


The Monster Within

by RisuQ_theQisSilent



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Platonic Frisk x Sans, oh geez the angst, there's probably some fluff in here somewhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-05-20 18:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 63,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6020257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RisuQ_theQisSilent/pseuds/RisuQ_theQisSilent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk is slowly losing her mind as dreams of a genocide-like past haunt her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This also appears on FF.net, but i thought oh well, i'll put it here becauseicanandnooneisstoppingmetrololololol

Prologue

 

The first time Sans met Frisk, he was incredibly suspicious of her. She wasn’t entirely like the other humans that had fallen. She was more fearful, smaller, almost…disturbed. The others that fell had no qualms with hurting other monsters, whether it was in self-defense or not. This one, Frisk, however, seemed to avoid bloodshed not out of kindness, but out of a cowardice that kept her from hurting others. At the time, Sans figured it was for the best. It was easier to have kept his promise to Toriel about protecting the human that way. But something about Frisk kept nagging at him.

She was however, maybe more genuine than he originally thought when she had agreed to play along with his wishes and let Papyrus “capture” her. Sans was only slightly surprised when Papyrus and Frisk became fast friends. Papyrus was a cool brother, (his favorite brother, he would always joke), and the human’s companionship made his brother happy—maybe even happier than Sans had seen in a long while. When Frisk was able to tear down Undyne’s gruff and murderous exterior, even in the face of possible death, Sans began to place a little more trust in her; he began to watch over and protect her more, not out of obligation but out of sincere care. She made his brother happy, she made Undyne happy, even Alphys, and Toriel, and deep down he knew that he was genuinely happy to have known her. She laughed at his jokes, no matter how obnoxious they seemed, and went along with his pranks, no matter how juvenile. If Sans would ever allow himself to admit it…she almost seemed like a member of the family as far as he was concerned.

But he still had that nagging feeling about her.

She was one of the select few who ever got to see his façade fall, if ever so slightly. Every timeline that reset had sent him further and further down the mindset that he should stop caring. Why form a connection with something that would never be? Why care about something that wouldn’t even matter the next time the timeline restarted? Why put effort into anything if it would all be ripped away from you eventually? But Frisk was causing him to change. During the time that she had been around, the time skips had stopped and brought a certain tranquility to his life that he had long forgotten. It was at the same time, relieving and unnerving.

But what if SHE was the reason behind why time was restarting over and over again? Or at this point, the lack of time restarts? He wouldn’t ask her; he would just accept it. If he tried to explain to the young child and ask her about it, he doubted she would understand and Sans was never one to go into deep and emotional subject matter. He couldn’t stomach it. He hated how any sort of emotional connection with another made him feel so vulnerable. He liked to keep up his joking exterior; no one else should know the things he knew or the things he felt.

Frisk wanted to go home, that was what drove her through the underground, even if she was terrified. If it was her, Sans had thought, surely she would be allowed past Asgore. Surely her kind demeanor would convince Asgore that he didn’t need her soul—that he could let her go free and she could find her way home, or room in her heart to stay.

Surely…

But Frisk couldn’t fight the king, neither could she run from him; she was too cowardly. She was stuck taking slash after slash from Asgore’s trident, screaming for someone to save her. When Sans made it to her, he found her being pierced by a grotesque monster over and over again with Asgore nowhere in sight. It was a horrifying sight to behold: a small human child, dripping with blood, impaled on a disgusting monsters’ tendrils. The beast loomed over her, laughing maniacally and staring at the broken body with four large gleaming eyes. It was nothing Sans had ever seen and the creature emanated the most evil aura, taking sheer delight in the carnage. The large television screen perched on what appeared to be the monster’s head flashed menacingly, and it rounded on Sans, letting out a high-pitched screeching laugh. Sans had sprung into action and blasted the beast away, if only temporarily, before cradling the small child in his arms as tears streamed from his eye sockets. Why couldn’t he have gotten there sooner?

But something was wrong. He could hear the abhorrent creature behind him slither and writhe, no doubt recovering from its wounds, but Sans’ gaze was locked onto Frisks’. Her eyes looked hollow, her face twisted into a disgusting smirk as her body lay mangled and bleeding . She had looked back at him, body twitching and her arm reach for something Sans couldn’t see, and began laughing.

Petrified in fear from the visage before him, Sans could feel the beast’s tendrils creep up behind him, engulfing him as it did to her too; he felt them dig into his very soul, watched as they pierced her chest, tearing her small body apart.

“See you soon…”

Was all he heard her harshly whisper before he was smothered in light.

\--

It had taken Sans only a moment to have realized the timeline had reset when he woke up in his bed. He felt immediately panicked. Worry and loss consumed him. If time had been reset, did that mean that Frisk was lost as well? He didn’t know what to think, but he immediately hid his thoughts and feelings when his brother Papyrus had burst into his room, shouting about human-hunting, as he had done in so many previous timelines.

Even though his memories were vague and fuzzy, he still knew the basics. The promise he made to Toriel, meeting Frisk, the horrible monster. He desperately hung onto those memories, telling himself that he would protect Frisk better this time around.

But the next time he saw her, there was something off. She had always been a quiet human, but when he had met her on the bridge again, he saw nothing in her eyes. Immediately, he was taken aback. Surely that wasn’t Frisk…was it? His intuition told him to be fearful of the human, that there was something horribly off, but he wanted to believe it was the same child standing in front of him as before. Once again, he asked Frisk to play along to Papyrus’ human-hunting antics. She wore no expression, and said nothing, but had nodded. He was chalking it up to the fact that her memories had been reset, just like everyone else’s, and that the bitterness in her eyes was just the status quo, human, irrational fear of being in a new place.

He regretted not listening to his intuition.

She killed everything in her path. Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, even Metatton, and worse, every monster she came across, no matter how innocent, she ruthlessly murdered. Wherever she went, a trail of destruction and bloodshed followed in her wake.

Frisk…

His rage boiled over. He had trusted her, welcomed her like a member of his own family, and now everyone he knew and loved had been destroyed. In the back of his mind, there was no question to him that Toriel was long since dead. She had probably been one of the first casualties of Frisk’s murderous rampage. He missed his friends terribly. Even if the timeline could be reset, this was inexcusable and horrific. In his mind, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of finality to the whole terrible situation. What if this was the timeline where everything went forward, never to be reset? What if this was the reason time kept leaping back? Had it been that way just so this destruction and chaos could be accomplished? It was irrational, but he felt his soul being crushed by the realization that this was the first time he had truly felt alone. He didn’t allow himself to fathom why Frisk had chosen this path of violence. He didn’t care. His anger and wrath drove him to seek her out. To destroy her. In that current timeline, he would have revenge for all of his friends and family.

He had met her that day in the judgement hall. A mix of dust and blood had caked onto her blue and magenta sweater, even in her hair, making her look far more terrifying than a normal human child ever should have. In her small hands, she held a blood-stained knife and around her neck a small pink locket-necklace. Sans had wondered what the body count had been up to while he had wallowed in his misery and wasted time. A pang of guilt ran through him as he began to think of all the times he spent with her in the past timeline. He held back tears as he stepped forward, ready to kill the small human he once called his closest friend.

She had a disgustingly self-satisfied smirk as she rushed forward, ready to plunge her knife through his skull.

But she never would; over and over again Sans would smash her into the walls, the ceiling, the floor, he used the giant monstrous skulls he summoned, the Gaster Blasters, and blasted her over and over again, he threw countless attacks against her, watched her get pummeled over and over again until the floor was coated in crimson. Sans’ wicked grin never left his face, anger pouring out of him like a geyser. The kid could never get a hit on him—he was too quick and attacked at a pace she just couldn’t follow. He would not let the murderer of his loved ones go so easily. When Frisks’ body finally lay on the floor too exhausted from blood loss and pain, he noticed the wide, evil grin she wore on her face. That familiar white light enveloped Sans again as he realized that Frisk truly was the one controlling the resets. 

She had reset them back to the beginning of their fight, to how both were before getting too exhausted or injured. And she would continue to reset each time Sans would beat her. He hurt her over and over again, he heard her bones crack and break, he heard her scream out again and again, he could almost hear her soul break, until finally…

She lay on the floor barely breathing. She couldn’t move and her terrible smirk was finally off her face, replaced with a look of helplessness and pain; it bore a striking resemblance to the old Frisk. Before Sans could think that it was finally over, her body had let out a sickening shudder, and a disgusting black mass writhed and wriggled out of her chest, out of her soul and levitated into the air. She screamed, and for a moment, her body nearly looked like it would be ripped asunder by the vicious secretion that expulsed itself from the small child. Sans took a step back before leaping to action and trying to blast the black ooze out of the air, but it had quickly detached itself from Frisk and dodged in the air before splatting on the ground and beginning to form what seemed like the body of a small human child, but much more deformed...much more grotesque.

“What…are you?” Sans had asked the foul substance.

“It’s Chara, you fool.”

And then something clicked into place. It wasn’t Frisk that had done all those terrible things, it was this creature…this Chara. His left eye burned a vicious blue color as he glared at the disturbing thing in front of him. Frisk was innocent, it had been this…thing all along… this thing must have taken control of Frisk and forced her to do those terrible things. Sans had to destroy it. Tired and exhausted, mentally and physically as he was, he struck out with the last bit of magic he had and blasted the Chara creature until it was nothing, not even dust.

It was over…

Sans collapsed to his knees, too tired to keep standing. He looked over at Frisks’ small body; she looked as though she had stopped breathing. In a panic, he got up as fast as he could and ran over to her. She had still been breathing, and Sans picked up her fragile form and cradled her to his chest. She was so broken and beaten up, and it was all he could do to hold it together as she whispered how sorry she was, how she regretted everything, how she missed everyone. He had tried to comfort her, but when she realized who was holding her, she could not be consoled. Fear took her and she struggled, screaming and crying to get away from the skeleton. Sans tried desperately to keep her still, to keep anymore of her crimson blood from leaving her tiny body.

And then she reached her hand out as if to grasp something before Sans could stop her.

Once again he was bathed in light.

\--

When Sans woke up in his bed with fuzzy memories, yet again, he knew that time was reset. He had only the vaguest of recollections of Frisk, the human, and their possessor, Chara, as well as the horrific murders of all of his friends; even though it was a blur, he could put what fragments he had together and paint a picture in his mind of the horrific atrocities that occurred. And once again, as in previous timelines, Papyrus burst into his room ranting about capturing a human, interrupting Sans’ thoughts.

When he found Frisk for the third time, he was surprised at how open and happy the human seemed to be. He wondered how much she remembered if anything at all from the past timelines, but when he tried to ask her, she merely cocked her head and looked confused, saying that she didn’t know what he was talking about and that her earliest memories were of when she woke up in a small gathering of flowers in the ruins. If she had truly forgotten everything, maybe she also had no recollection of how to reset the timelines, if she was the true culprit of the space-time resets. He was going to keep a closer eye on her this time. Nothing from the past would be repeated, he told himself.

Like in the timeline past, she became fast friends with Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and even Asgore. Unlike the other two time streams, she spared monsters not out of fear or cowardice, but out of genuine goodness from her heart. Sans, however, really did try his best at forgetting the past and what he had seen her do—rather, what he had seen Chara make her do, but somehow he always felt stiffer around her than he ever was. Whenever he went to look at her, instead of her smiling face, he would see Chara’s wicked, vile smirk, and her clothes and body caked in the blood and dust of his fellow monsters. Sans forced himself to try to act like his normal, comical self around her, and he wondered if she could tell whether he was faking it. If she could, she never let it show; she was just as sincere and candid to him as all the others and always took the opportunity to hang around him. She talked about her “mother,” Toriel from the ruins and why the only reason she had left such a wonderful person was because she heard how the monsters in the underground were secluded form the outside and how it wasn’t fair and that maybe she and the King could work together to break the barrier and let everyone leave the underworld. Sans told her how ridiculous that was and asked why she would even want to go to the surface when everything she could want was down below. With a determined sparkle in her eyes, she had repeated that everyone deserved to live freely, not trapped in isolation and that if no one was going to take initiative, then she would.

And even after she had saved the underground and broken the barrier, even after all the good things she did in the current timeline, even after all the friends she had made and how well she seemed to fit in, even after the fact that he knew Chara was vanquished, even after the fact that he knew without memories she could never reset the time stream again,

Sans still had a nagging feeling about her…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

_When Frisk opened her eyes she was at first panicked by the darkness. Looking around, she noticed that she could still see into the room she was in. Blood and dust were everywhere, coating the walls like a thick, repugnant paint and smelled just as bad. It was a horrifying sight, enough to make her want to purge the contents of her stomach._

_“You…”_

_A sudden voice called out to Frisk and she jerked around, wildly trying to find the source of the sound. Turning and whipping her head back and forth yielded her just an empty room._

_“You did this…”_

_Flashes of corpses danced through her head. Horrible, horrible visceral images shot through her, filling her with disgust and fear. Bodies with large, oozing, red gashes displayed themselves prominently in her mind, all with large, vacuous eyes staring reproachfully at her before bursting into dust; the gruesome carnage overloaded the poor child. Why was this happening? Oh god… oh god… Frisk grabbed at her head, trying to claw the visions from her mind._

_The voice sneered at her._

_“Don’t act like you don’t like it.”_

\--

Shooting up in bed, Frisk was panting heavily, drenched in a layer of sweat. She looked from her hands to her small cozy room wildly, looking for something. Getting up out of bed, she could feel her heart still racing, from her dream, but she couldn’t remember what it had been about. This had happened before, too, and she wondered if it would keep happening. The shadows seemed to be playing along the walls of her petite room, though in reality they were not moving. It made her uncomfortable, almost as though there was a beast waiting within them. Shaking her head and wiping the sweat off of her brow, she crept out of her room and walked down the hall.

Her mother, or her adoptive mother, Toriel, slept in a room nearby and Frisk sought out her comfort. She passed by the other two rooms, housing the other tenents of the house: skeletons Sans and Papyrus. Gently opening the door to her mother’s room, she peered inside and heard the soft snoring of Toriel. Hesitating for a moment, not sure if Frisk wanted to wake her up just for a dream, she stood in the doorway for a minute, just watching as the anthropomorphic goat woman slept peacefully. Finally gathering up her courage, Frisk softly crept over to the bed and climbed up as quietly as she could. Toriel shifted slightly and opened an eye to gaze down at Frisk, who froze, caught in the act.

“Can you not sleep tonight?” She whispered tenderly to the young girl. Frisk shook her head no and was pulled close to Toriel, in a loving embrace. “Then sleep here, dear child.”

They stayed like that for a little bit as Toriel quickly drifted off to sleep. Frisk closed her eyes, listening to the strong steady heartbeat of her mother, enraptured by its pace, engulfed by her familys’ warmth. She didn’t go to sleep for a while, but when she did, she slept until morning.

Frisk woke up to a delicious smell in the air. Whatever her mother was cooking smelled wonderful to her. She got out of Toriel’s bed and padded over to the doorway. Still in her nightie, she hesitated on whether or not she wanted to get dressed for school or stay in her comfortable jammies for a little while longer. She could hear some voices coming from the kitchen, and smiling to herself as she recognized them, she stayed to eavesdrop a bit.

“…Papyrus, I think there are far too many waffles. I’m not even entirely sure how you managed to make so many from one batch.” Toriel’s voice drifted from the kitchen.

“Nonesense! I, the Great Papyrus, know that there can never be enough waffles!” A loud booming, boisterous voice called back.

“Papyrus, we’ll never be able to eat this many.” Toriel sighed at him.

Another voice, deep and sleepy-sounding joined the duo. “Pap, Tori, between the two of you, I’d say you both have had your fair share of waffling this morning. I’d say you two had better leggo this conversation.”

“Nyaahhhh…” came the exasperated response from the loud voice. “It is far too early in the morning for your terrible jokes, brother.”

Frisk giggled from the doorway silently to herself before coming out and joining the others in the kitchen.

“Oh, good morning, my child.” Toriel called out to her, coming over to embrace her. “I hope you slept well.”

Frisk nodded as she pulled away from the hug to sit at the kitchen table, reaching over to pile some waffles onto her plate. Papyrus, her tall skeleton friend, came over and rubbed her head gently with a gloved hand. “Good morning human, I mean Frisk! I hope you enjoy those waffles! The Great Papyrus made them! …with Toriel’s help, of course.” He added in sheepishly when he saw Toriel’s raised eyebrow.

“Yup, she gave him a quick tu-Toriel.” Sans, Frisk’s other skeleton friend quipped from the couch he was sitting on with a wink as Frisk let out a small giggle.

“Saaaaans!” Papyrus groaned, turning to his short brother. “You’re going to ruin my perfect waffles with your terrible humor! And you’ve made that joke a millions times already!”

“What’s wrong bro, can’t take the punishment?” Sans cracked another joke, chortling out loud much to the chagrin of his brother, as Papyrus strode over to him to complain loudly.

Frisk liked Papyrus and Sans; they acted like the uncles she never had and they were hilarious together. Frisk always thought she got along better with Papyrus, considering they were both hyperactive and liked to stay busy. Plus, they were always getting into something and working on puzzles or some kind of game.

Sans however…

Frisk liked Sans too; he was funny and nice to her, and kind to everyone. Sure he was a little lazy, and Frisk wasn’t sure if he actually worked like her other friends since he slept a lot, but… every once in a while she would get a strange feeling from Sans that…unsettled her. Sometimes it almost seemed as if he was boring right into her soul with his gaze. It wasn’t just that though, but she couldn’t quite place what else unnerved her so. It was never enough for her to ask him about it, and she never told anyone how she felt (the last thing she wanted to do was hurt Sans’ feelings or throw around strange accusations). Frisk would always tell herself she was reading too deep into it and that Sans was her friend—he wouldn’t hurt her. Or so she assumed. It’s not like she could ever forget the day he sat her down in the diner in the underground and told her to her face that if it wasn’t for the promise he made to her mother, Frisk would have been long dead. But he had laughed it off and told her it was a joke after she cried about it, so she had let it go. Frisk believed him. Frisk wanted to believe him.

Toriel sat down next to Frisk, calling the brothers over to join them at the table and eat—not that they were listening. With a snort of indignation, Toriel decided she and her child would be having breakfast with or without the other two.

Frisk smiled up at her mother, mouth full of syrup and waffle, then at the other two. She was sad that Undyne and Alphys hadn’t joined them, but Alphys was working on something through the night and had requested Undyne and her herculean strength to help out, so they were both probably too tired to have joined them—or Alphys was busy putting out the fires that usually ensued from the two girls’ shenanigans. Asgore, the monsters’ fearless king, was no doubt working on treaties with humans, and as such, Frisk hadn’t seen him in a long while—she missed the big kindly king. Metatton, the entertainer robot that once tried to kill her (well, a few of her friends had tried to kill her at one point) was always off doing his shows, so she was never sure when she would ever see him; she had expected him to miss this sort of breakfast get-together though.

Frisk was interrupted from her thoughts by a paw on her head. “Frisk, when you’re finished, go get dressed and I’ll take you to your school.”

With a nod, Frisk shoved the last big bite of waffle into her mouth and got up from the table to wander back to her bedroom to change.

As she threw off her pajamas, she lamented the fact that her mother couldn’t teach at her school, but had to teach at the “monster school” several miles down the road. Frisk knew that Toriel was an excellent teacher, and had been shocked to hear that because she wasn’t a human, she had no place teaching humans anything. Frisk thought it strange too, since monsters learned to read, write, calculate, and speak just like her fellow humans did, so it didn’t make sense that Toriel, or any other monster, for that matter, weren’t allowed to teach a curriculum that was essentially the same. Frisk could understand Toriel not being able to teach human history or social studies, but she was confused why the teachers at her human school taught monster history and didn’t have a monster teaching them instead. After all, according to Toriel there were humans at the monster school teaching monsters human history. The thing that worried Frisk more was the segregation of the two races: monsters and humans. It seemed to be just the schools that were built like that as opposed to the rest of the world—to her knowledge anyway. Most of her monster friends associated with other monsters, except Papyrus, who worked as a mascot of a fast food joint. He met a lot of humans where he worked and always had nice things to say about everyone (or it was just part of his personality: he always tried to see the good in everybody). But she wondered if this isolation from each other was bound to generate animosity in the near future.

Realizing that she had been standing there staring at a wall blankly for the past several minutes, Frisk collected her school things and dashed back into the kitchen where Toriel was waiting.

She saw Papyrus and Sans getting ready to leave and asked them if they were going with her and her mother. Sans lazily opened his mouth to respond when Papyrus interrupted him.

“We are going to the zoo, Frisk! My brother and Toriel have told me about the wonders of the surface creatures, and the Great Papyrus wishes to observe these animals.” There was a beat before he added. “Plus, it is my day off. I wish to spend some of it with my brother.”

Papyrus noticed the slightly pouting look on Frisk’s face and glanced nervously at Sans, who shrugged sleepily from the couch. “We can all go together—Alphys and Undyne too, when you don’t have school, kiddo.” Sans added quietly. “Plus you know my bro, he’s got a one-track mind, otherwise we would’ve all gone together. Give him a break. I can’t have him ZOOming around the zoo alone.”

Papyrus narrowed his eye at Sans, making a soft “nyeh” protesting noise.

A pat on the small human’s head had her turned around to see Toriel gathering her things into a purse. “Let’s go now, before we’re both late.”

\--

As Frisk waved goodbye to Toriel, she was overcome with the feeling that she was one of few kids at her school that still hugged and waved and was excited about her parents. Most of the other kids were embarrassed by their parents and hated having their hair tussled or pat on the head, or hugged, or bragged on. Frisk definitely didn’t mind it; it was Toriel’s way of expressing her love, which Frisk was more than ready to accept, seeing as she had no idea who her own parents were, and why they hadn’t stepped forward to claim her at this point. But Frisk had to wonder if being a “mamma’s girl” was one of the reasons why she was a loner at the school.

No. It wasn’t that. Well, that could have been a small part of it, but Frisk knew exactly why she was avoided by her fellow students. No one really wanted to associate with the young girl who “broke the barrier” or came from a monster family. It wasn’t that the kids were bad, and they definitely didn’t try to bully her (either out of fear for retaliation from her monster family, or maybe they had a conscience and morals, Frisk could never be sure), but they definitely avoided her. There were a few people Frisk could give a “good morning” or a “hello” to, but those students were few and far between. She had tried talking to a few of them in the beginning, but gave up after their answers became curt and they clearly looked uncomfortable. Frisk gave up trying to make friends—at the school, anyway. She had plenty of monster friends she made in the underground that she got to play with, so she wasn’t entirely bothered by it. The only one she had spoken to about all this was Papyrus, who had told her to look for the good in everyone, and that he believed in her ability to make friends (“After all, you were befriended by the Great Papyrus, were you not?”).

So Frisk had decided to let everyone get used to her presence and then she would try to befriend everyone. It was a sound plan, in her mind.

Her classes seemed to drag on throughout the day though. When she glanced at a clock she noted that it was only 12 in the afternoon—4 more hours to go. As her teacher talked about how multiplication worked, Frisk felt her eyelids grow heavier and heavier. She sat up as her head began to droop and rubbed her cheeks. Her nightmare had robbed her of precious sleep and she was struggling yet again to stay awake in class. This was why her grades weren’t as good as they should have been, Frisk told herself. She wanted to be the best daughter for her mother, the best mom, and if she didn’t have good grades, she would be hurting Toriel’s image, she reasoned. She wondered if people would look at Toriel and accuse her of not being a good mother because her adoptive daughter wasn’t smart and then Frisk would get taken away as they once tried to do and she’d never see Toriel or Sans or Papyrus again and then she’d always be alone and—

Frisk shook her head lightly, feeling a depressing feeling come over her, as heavy as her eyelids were becoming. She wouldn’t let herself think like that. She had to be happy and act like herself—if she didn’t, it would trouble everyone.

Before she had even realized it, her head was on the desk and her eyes were shut.

\--

_“I will not let another child die out there.”_

_A strong maternal voice filled the darkness._

_“Do you not understand, my child, that you will die out there? The monsters out there will kill you.”_

_Opening her eyes she saw a blurred image of…Toriel? What was her mother doing? Looking around, Frisk noticed that she was back at the ruins. But the place looked…darker…more enclosed than what she remembered—It was suffocating. Toriel especially had a strange look in her eyes…a look of fear, but more than what Toriel had ever displayed. Was she afraid of something? A gleam caught Frisk’s eye and she looked down._

_She was holding a knife._

_Why was she holding that? What was she doing?!_

_“Please, my child. Put that down and let’s go back into the ruins to our home. Please.” Toriel pleaded, looking right into Frisks eyes._

_Frisk moved forward a step, and began to panic. She didn’t make that step! Her body was moving against her will!_

_“Why don’t you make me, you fool?” A sinister voice escaped her lips and Frisk nearly lost it. What was she saying?! What was she doing?! She eyed the knife again and a realization flashed through her mind. No. No… No._

_“Child, please. Do you really hate me that much?” Toriel’s voice became soft and desperate as Frisk stepped closer._

_No no no no no…_

_“My child, please…”_

_Nonononononononononononononononononono—_

_There was a swish of a blade and then everything went red._

_Frisk stared down at Toriel, who was gushing crimson fluid all over her beautiful snow white fur as she collapsed to the ground._

_“I see... So…” She coughed, and blood splattered her front. “It wasn’t that I was trying to protect you from them… but them from you.” She looked up straight into Frisk’s eyes with the most reproachful disgusted look she had ever seen. “You’re the real monster.”_

_Frisk tried to open her mouth to scream as Toriel’s body disintegrated into dust in front of her, but nothing came out but a sinister laugh._

_“Good riddance, you old bag.”_

\--

Frisk shot up from her seat, knocking it over and scaring nearly everyone in the class as she screamed and cried out.

The room was deathly quiet as Frisk realized where she was and what the outburst would do to what little social life she had. Nervously she turned to look at the faces in the class, all staring with a mixture of horror, shock, and fear.

“Frisk?” the teacher called after what seemed like ages. “Maybe you should excuse yourself? Why don’t you go to the nurse’s office?”

Frisk nodded, feeling her mouth was now suddenly dry and her face burning hot. She quickly got up and took the hall pass from the wall, trying not to make any more eye contact with another person as she vacated as fast as she could.

She knew she was supposed to go to the nurse, but she just could not shake the horrible image out of her head as she walked past. This was the first time she had been able to remember her dream. But why would she dream that? What was wrong with her? It was so horrible! She murdered Toriel! She felt tears well up in her eyes and bile rise in her throat as the memory of the dream kept flashing through her mind. Her pace quickened from a walk into a run, almost as if she wanted to run from her dream.

There was no one in the hallway, no teachers monitoring as Frisk went up to the front doors. She had to leave, she had to get out and get some air, maybe be away from people for a while. The doors opened and she was greeted by a refreshing breeze of cool autumn air.

\--

There was a park Sans would often take Frisk to when Toriel and Papyrus were busy working. He was the one that found it for the young girl. It was quiet and had a small swing-set and a miniature playscape and though it was situated in human territory, not many kids visited it so usually Sans and Frisk had it to themselves (though Sans would usually sleep while Frisk played). It took Frisk some time to get to, considering it was a few miles from the school, but it gave her some time to clear her head and calm down somewhat as she ran to her destination.

Panting, Frisk made her way over to a swing and sat down. Finally not able to hold back the disgust and turmoil she felt, she threw up as tears streamed down her face. Coughing and crying, she held herself tightly as the traumatic dream shot through her mind. Frisk rocked back and forth, trying to comfort herself as best as she could.

It was just a dream…

It was only a dream…

Toriel was alive; she dropped Frisk off to school just hours ago. There was no way that dream, no, that nightmare was real. Looking down at her hands, she tried not to remember how real it felt, how warm and wet the blood had been, how hard she had plunged the knife into her mothe—

She stood up, stepping over her pile of sick and paced back and forth, holding herself, trying to forget what she had seen. Taking deep breaths, she slowed her heart rate and evened out her breathing.

It was a dream. It wasn’t real. Everyone was ok. She was ok.

Frisk sat down on the steps of the playscape and let out a sigh, finally coming back down to normal. Frisk smiled bitterly as she recalled her outburst in class. That wasn’t good. Now she would have to deal with that as she walked by in the halls. So much for making friends; maybe she could convince Toriel to sneak her into the monster school where her friends her age were. Then she paled as she thought about how the school would call her mother. Everyone would find out—they’d see that Frisk, the hero, was doing terrible in school and had a terrible social life and couldn’t even get along with her own kind. And then the sit down talk: Toriel and Sans would sit her down and try to find out why she was having such weird nightmares. Frisk didn’t want to have to tell them that she dreamt she murdered her own mother! She didn’t want to see the look of disgust or fear in her mother’s eyes, and Sans…what would he think? She shook, imagining his expression—she had only ever seen him mad once and it was the scariest thing she had been through besides fighting Asgore and Asriel, not that Sans had ever directed his rage at her.

Frisk almost didn’t want to go home.

No…that was wrong. She had to go home. She couldn’t run away from this. If Toriel and the others found out, then she would accept it and deal with it as it came. Frisk stood up and looked up at the sky, noting how the sun had changed position. She had been at the park for a while, and was unsure of how much time had passed. Frisk needed to get back before her family had another reason to interrogate her.

\--

She returned to the school just as it was being let out, with children spewing from the entrance to go home to their families. Frisk slipped into the crowd, knowing that she was going to have to wait a while until Toriel would arrive to pick her up.

She sat herself on the steps of the school as the crowd thinned out, staring off into space absent-mindedly, trying not to feel anxious for when Toriel would arrive, and trying her best to ignore the stares of her fellow students.

Soon enough Toriel came to pick her up and Frisk climbed into the car, wary of her mother, but trying not to garner more suspicion than she already assumed she was under. Toriel asked her the typical questions; “how was your day?” “Did you make any new friends?” “What did you learn today?” And Frisk relaxed, noting how she didn’t seem to be prying too much into her day besides the standard fare. It almost seemed as though Toriel wasn’t aware of Frisk’s outburst from earlier. Frisk relaxed immensely when they arrived home, feeling like she dodged a major bullet—at least for now.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

As Frisk walked through the front door of her home she smelled the distinct smell of spaghetti throughout. Having not eaten lunch, her mouth immediately watered from the thought of being able to eat spaghetti for dinner. She knew for certain that it had been Papyrus that had cooked it, and though when they had first met his cooking left much to be desired, with Toriel’s help he had blossomed into a fairly decent chef—with regards to simple foods and his signature dish spaghetti. Everything else was usually hit or miss, mostly being a miss. 

“Oh, I guess we’re having spaghetti again tonight, huh dear child?” Toriel asked aloud, looking down at Frisk. Frisk knew immediately that Toriel had wanted to cook for them that night, and was probably trying to avoid having spaghetti again for the fourth time that week. 

Frisk opened her mouth to reassure her mother that she didn’t mind the same thing that many times, but as she looked back into Toriel’s face, her face twisted in a distorted, bloody way. Frisk shuddered and had to force herself from screaming as she remembered seeing her mother’s body decimated into dust from her dream.

Toriel took notice of the sudden change in her daughter’s demeanor. “Are you alright, my child?” She peered down at her adoptive daughter concerned. Frisk snapped out of her stupor and nodded, relieved that the horrible vision was gone. Toriel patted her on the head reassuringly.

“If there’s anything bothering you, dear child, please do not hesitate to speak up. Alright?”

Frisk nodded again, telling her mother that she was fine, just a little hungry and tired.

“OK. Well then, in that case I’m going to go get changed into something more comfortable. Why don’t you go join the two boneheads in the kitchen and see if you can give them a hand.” She gave Frisk a wink before heading to her room.

Frisk followed her with her eyes, holding back another scream as she watched her mother’s body collapse into dust, and then just as quickly, return to normal. Swallowing hard, Frisk slowly walked into the kitchen.

“Human! Frisk!” Papyrus spotted her and immediately picked her up, giving her a hug. Frisk returned the hug, giving him a friendly pat on the skull. “The zoo was amazing! Did you know there are creatures called giraffes? They have amazing long necks! And there were these big fluffy cats called Lions, but you shouldn’t pet them and…”

Frisk listened intently to Papyrus’ ranting about how much he loved his trip to the zoo and all the animals he saw. She glanced around and saw Sans sitting on the couch, slumped over sleeping. The trip must have taken a lot out of him, though Sans didn’t have too terribly much constitution when it came to doing normal activities anyway. Frisk held back a giggle and continued listening to Papyrus as he continued to hold her in his arms, twirling her around every now and then.

Frisk froze suddenly when the phone rang, interrupting Papyrus. Surely it wasn’t…

“Sans! Can you get the phone? Wake up, you lazybones, and get it!” Papyrus called over to his brother, who opened an eye socket lazily. “I want to keep telling the human about my day! So can you please get that?”

With a yawn, the shorter skeleton hoisted himself off the couch and shuffled over to the ringing phone. Frisk followed him with wide eyes, frozen stiff, and heart beating rapidly. Not Sans…No…

“Hello?” Sans answered the phone with a yawn. Papyrus continued to talk to Frisk, describing the intricacies of penguin culture and their lack of fondness for puzzles. Frisk’s breath caught in her throat as she managed to pick out pieces from the phone call.

“Oh, Frisk? Yeah, I’m one of her legal guardians, Sans. Sans the skeleton.” Sans turned to briefly glimpse at Frisk, who was hoping her face didn’t reflect the level of fear she was currently experiencing. “Oh, really? No I haven’t noticed anything. We’re actually about to sit down to dinner. No, no, thank you for your call. We’ll keep an eye-socket out for her. Ok. Thanks.”

Sans gently placed the phone back down on the receiver and strode back to the couch. Frisk let out a breath silently and shot a glance back at the skeleton. If he had been told what had happened at school he wasn’t reacting to it in the way Frisk thought he would.

“Brother, who was that on the phone?” Papyrus asked, curiously.

“Just the kiddo’s school calling. They just wanted to call and let us know Frisk left her schoolthings there. No big deal. Nothing to school us on.”

Papyrus let out a groan and set Frisk down finally. “In other news, human, I have made us dinner for tonight! This will be my greatest batch yet!” He turned to return to his pot of spaghetti sauce, which was bubbling away on the stove.

“Well at least it smells good.” Toriel mumbled under her breath as she came into the kitchen, wearing her usual robes. “My child, let’s set the table so we can eat soon.”

Frisk, too afraid to look her in the eyes, lest she saw another horrible vision, smiled and nodded, turning away from her mother to fetch some silverware. She felt a gaze on her and knew right then that Sans was watching her. She swallowed hard. This was not good.

\--

After dinner, Frisk made it a point to head straight to bed before anyone else, lest she had to face the unwavering accusatory gaze from Sans.

She bid her family goodnight after washing her dishes and turned to head to her room when she heard San’s voice call out to her.

“Hey kiddo, walk with me for a bit, will ya?”

Frisk froze, not sure what to do. She could tell him that she was tired and was going to bed, but then he’d know for sure there was something wrong with her, and probably tell Toriel too. Frisk slowly turned around to face him—he wore his usual smile on his face but he had an intensity in his eyesockets that Frisk wondered if the others could notice and she knew then she couldn’t say no.

Sans nodded his head toward the front door, beckoning Frisk to follow. Frisk waited for a beat and glanced back to Toriel and Papyrus, who were washing dishes and cleaning up the tall skeleton’s cooking. Papyrus was telling Toriel about his day while making exaggerated hand motions, and the kindly goat mom was smiling and laughing jovially, though every now and again she would make a pun about a certain animal, much to the chagrin of the skeleton brother. Frisk turned to face the entryway and let out a sigh as she slowly approached the front door, going outside.

Sans was already out there, sitting on the porch, looking out at the yard silently as he waited for her. Frisk could feel the tension and wondered if it was too late to turn back. Without turning around, Sans patted the spot next to him, inviting her to sit down. Very hesitantly, Frisk complied, placing herself next to her skeleton friend, pulling her legs up close to her chest.

There was a long hard silence between them and Frisk felt even more anxious than before.

Finally Sans spoke, and Frisk was shocked by how matter of factly he was sounding.

“So, kiddo, how are you?” He turned to look at his young companion, who darted a glance over at him. His eyesockets were empty, signifying to her that he was being serious. Frisk shrugged her shoulders, telling him she was fine, just a little tired.

“So I heard.” He sighed audibly, sounding maybe the faintest bit irritated, or was it just Frisk imagining it? “Your school called, you know.” Frisk could practically feel his gaze washing over her. “They said you fell asleep in class and then woke up screaming, then left school without permission for the rest of the day. So if that’s your idea of ‘ok,’ kid, I’d like to tell you that it’s not.”

Frisk raised her eyes to meet his and she wished she hadn’t. He was doing it again—that thing he did when he would look at something so intensely it seemed like he was trying to bore into it with his gaze. He put a skeletal hand on her shoulder and seemed to relax as his pupils returned to his eye sockets. 

“Look, uh, kid. You mean a lot to us—me, and Pap, and Tori. If there’s something wrong, tell us ok? I mean you’ve been acting off since you got home.”

Frisk looked away, suddenly finding the loose piece of thread on her sleeve very interesting as she picked at it.

“Frisk.” Sans sighed, removing his hand and using it to rub the back of his vertebrae. “I know that you don’t want to listen to this, but, uh, try not to suffer in silence, ok? I mean, you and I can have this talk, or you and Tori can have this talk.”

Frisk sheepishly asked if he was going to tell her mother.

Sans shook his head. “Nah kiddo. If you talk to me, and tell me what’s wrong, we can just keep this between us.”

Frisk nodded and told him that she just had a scary dream about being in the front of class without her pants, and that she was embarrassed from her reaction and so she had left school so she wouldn’t have to deal with the stares or reactions from the other kids. Letting her words hang in the air, she managed to make eye contact with Sans, who was giving her a hard stare. She held the stare, hoping and praying that he would just drop it and believe her. Finally, she heard a chuckle come from her friend as he gave her hair a ruffle.

“No pants, huh?” His facial features relaxed as he leaned back. “Ok, kiddo, I’ll believe you.” He added quietly, so quietly Frisk had to strain to hear, “I want to believe you, kid.” He grinned as he looked back at her. “I wunderwear you got such a silly idea from. I mean it sounds like it was quite the pantemonium for you.”

Frisk was caught off guard by the sudden change in conversation and was taken aback at Sans’ jokes; she opened her mouth, but wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Taking notice, Sans rubbed the back of his skull. “Geez kiddo, you’re supposed to laugh at my jokes, you know.”

Frisk let out a small smile before she quietly giggled. Sans gave her a pat on the head before holding out his arms. “C’mere kid.” Frisk gave a meek smile as she fell into his outstretched arms and returned the hug, remembering how weird it felt to hug a skeletal frame. “Just remember, kid. I’m here for you if you need it. We all are.”

This was the Sans she knew, not the darkly foreboding guy that was just there. She sighed into Sans’ coat, feeling an odd sense of warmth from her friend, though he had no body heat to produce. Sans was her friend—looking back on how anxious she had been about the subject, Frisk felt as though she had overreacted a touch. Sans was her buddy, her friend, her guardian; she shouldn’t have worried about what he would say or do. Feeling much better and less anxious, Frisk finally pulled away from the hug and smiled. Even if she didn’t tell the whole truth, she felt better with Sans’ support regardless.

“Ok kiddo, time for this guy to hit the hay. I’m bone tired.” Sans stood up and offered a bony hand to Frisk, who accepted as she stood up. “I think you should go to sleep too. Don’t you have another day at school tomorrow? Maybe you’ll remember your pants this time.”

Frisk gave him a playful slap on his arm, but nodded in agreement, feeling tired suddenly.

They both walked back inside the house to get ready for bed. With a final hug to her family, Frisk went off to bed, praying she wouldn’t have another nightmare that night.

\--

_As soon as Frisk opened her eyes, she knew exactly where she was._

_A gentle bit of snow falling around, the cold breeze freezing her sensitive skin, the rushing sounds of water from a river nearby. She was back in Showdin._

_“…It seems like your life is going down a dangerous path…”_

_Frisk’s head snapped to the direction of the sound so quickly she nearly gave herself whiplash._

_Papyrus stood in front of her, speaking to her, looking terrified. He was shaking as he spoke to her, telling her not to hurt others anymore and doing his best to sound reassuring. She had seen Papyrus in this exact location before back in the underground, when they had their first “fight,” but this was not right, this was not how Papyrus normally was._

_Frisk wanted to cry, seeing her friend look so desperately at her, like she was some kind of monster, but her tears would not fall. She glimpsed down at her hands and nearly shrieked. Her hands were covered in blood—no doubt monster blood, and she was clutching the same knife she had used to cut down her mother with. She tried to drop the accursed weapon but she could not move her hands—nor the rest of her, for that matter. She was stuck as a prisoner inside her own body, forced to watch a show she did not want to see._

_“Everyone can be a g-great person if they try!” Papyrus continued, sounding shakier._

_Frisk took a step forward._

_No…_

_This was exactly the same as when she had killed her mother. Why was this repeating? Why was she doing this?! Why was she hurting the people she loved the most?! Nonononononono…_

_“Human, you are in need of guidance! S-someone needs to keep you on the straight and narrow!”_

_Frisk felt herself move forward again, clutching the blade even tighter. She looked right into Papyrus’ pleading eyes and desperately tried to beg for this all to stop, but words refused to form in her mouth. She couldn’t break free… She couldn’t stop this madness…_

_“B-but don’t worry! I, the Great Papyrus, will help you!”_

_Frisk was now so close to Papyrus, all she had to do was reach out her hand…_

_“Are you offering a hug of acceptance?” Papyrus sounded hopeful and took a tentative step forward. “Wowie! My lessons are a-already working!”_

_Just reach out her hand clutching her bloody knife…_

_Papyrus smiled and stepped forward and reached down to encircle the human with his arms._

_And stab her friend to death…_

_Frisk closed her eyes tightly, silently begging him to run, to flee, to leave her before she did something horrible to him. She felt her arm raise, poised to strike down her friend, and with a burst of energy she didn’t even know she had, threw down her blade._

_NO!_

_NO! NO!_

_She broke out into a heavy, loud sob as she screamed how sorry she was, falling to the ground and weeping miserably into the snow. She could hear Papyrus shuffle nervously over her loud crying and she finally heard him speak as he gave her a hug._

_“I’m so proud. You didn’t do a violence!” There were tears of relief in his eye-sockets and Frisk clung to him desperately, happy that she didn’t hurt her friend._

_“Just kidding~”_

_Frisk heard the familiar, yet darkly foreboding voice hiss in her ear and she looked up just in time to see her hands holding the knife which had just been plunged deeply into her skeleton friend’s chest._

_“Did you really think it would play out that way? Fool.” The voice gleefully whispered. It took Frisk a moment to realize that the voice was coming from **her**._

_With a sick tug of the hand, the knife had slashed all the way through Papyrus’ torso. He screamed in pain as his body began to crumble away, becoming dust. Frisk stood there in shock as she heard the rumbles of sinister laughter emanate from her body. Papyrus’ head fell to the snow-covered ground with a sick soft thud. He looked up at her pitifully._

_“H-human? Why? Don’t worry, I still believe in you… You can be a better person if you just try—“_

_Papyrus was cut off by Frisk’s foot moving against her will, smashing his skull to pieces._

_“What a load of garbage. Oh well. He was always a pain in the ass.”_

_Frisk screamed internally. This was so horrible; she wanted to scream but couldn’t, she wanted to puke, but couldn’t, she wanted this to all end, but it didn’t._

_Frisk felt her head lean down and her eyes narrow at the knife, which shined a reflection that was not her. Glowing red eyes met her own and she saw the face of the one who was doing this for the first time._

_“You can’t have your happy ending, Frisk. You don’t have a choice; you’ve never had a choice.” The person in the reflection snickered vilely. “I’ll see you soon, **friend**.”_

\--

Frisk awoke with a start and immediately jumped out of bed onto the floor with a thud. She froze, wondering if the others heard her fall. There was silence though, and she heaved a sigh of relief when she didn’t hear any stirring from the others in the house, save for a faint snoring from one of the skeleton brothers. She swallowed hard, trying not to remember her dream, or the fact that she could still hear the crunch and crackle of Papyrus’ bones as he broke to pieces echoing in her head.

Frisk stood up and stifled a sob as best as she could. Against her will, she remembered the dark red eyes that had glared back at her from within her dream. That had been horrible! There had been…someone making her do those things… Wrapping her arms around herself securely, she slowly shuffled out of her room and towards the bathroom, fear gripping her.

Trying not to hyperventilate as she approached the mirror within the small room, she clenched her eyes shut, telling herself she was going to be okay; there was no monster inside of her. She slowly opened an eye and glanced nervously at the mirror. 

Even after all that, it was still her.

Relief washed over her, and then panic. It had been a dream, but she still had a foreboding feeling about it. As quietly as she could manage, she sneaked over to Papyrus’ room and opened the door gently. Inside, she peered over at the racing car-shaped bed that Papyrus slumbered in. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she saw him sleeping peacefully, with a “nyeh heh” every now and then. Backing out of the room quietly, she glanced down the hallway over at Sans’ door, almost expecting him to be peering out at her from within with a silent, reproachful look. She relented when he wasn’t, and she was suddenly torn from wanting to go running to her mother like the night before, or perhaps going to Sans, or returning to her room to maybe try and sleep off her horrible dream.

She didn’t want to bother her mother with anymore of her dreams and went back to her room. And though Sans and her had had a peaceful talk, Frisk was starting to regain that uneasy feeling about him again. She paled thinking about what Sans would do to her if he found out she had murdered his brother in her dreams. She laid back down on her bed, but sleep did not come easily, and she spent the rest of the night worrying on whether she’d see any more killings in her sleep.

\--

“Human! Frisk! Wake up, or you will be late for school!”

Frisk’s eyes opened groggily as she searched for the source of the noise. Her eyes locked into a tall skeletal figure, and she immediately sat up, recoiling in fear, letting out a yelp in terror. Instead of seeing Papyrus’ usual smiling face, she saw a faceless torso erupting to dust in front of her. Her eyes locked onto the gash displayed prominently on his chest and covered her mouth to suppress a scream.

“Whoa, human, the Great Papyrus did not mean to scare you! Only to wake you up!”

Frisk felt a gloved hand on her head and she looked up at her friend. He was himself again, and eyeing her suspiciously. Calming down, she fought back tears and merely nodded, telling him that he had only startled her. She gave him what she hoped was a genuine smile, and tried not to flinch when she eyed Sans and Toriel in the doorway, looking concerned.

“You ok, kiddo?” Sans called over softly.

“My Child, are you feeling unwell?” Toriel walked over to her quickly as Papyrus withdrew his hand. “You have bags under your eyes, did you not sleep well last night?”

Frisk fought the urge to shrink back and break out into a sob when she saw Toriel’s sweet face warp into one of intolerable hatred and disgust, but shrugged and told them she slept fine, she was just frazzled from Papyrus’ wake-up call. Quickly and as nonchalantly as possible, she ushered everyone out of her room, letting them know she wanted to get dressed and that she would join them for breakfast soon. She sighed when she closed the door, feeling miserable. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she lamented that she didn’t get enough sleep, yet again, and wondered if this would continue to be a pattern.

\--

When Frisk was dropped off at school she did what she could to try to avoid Toriel’s concerned gaze.

“Are you quite sure that you are feeling well, my child?”

Frisk nodded and put on a smile, stating that she felt fine, though maybe just a little tired, but it was nothing to worry about. When Toriel drove away Frisk’s smile dropped and her posture slumped. She gave her eyes another rub; there was no way she would be able to stay awake in any of her classes.

Instead of heading to her first class, Frisk weaved in and out of the mass of children, who were no doubt staring awkwardly and whispering about the incident from yesterday, coming to an arrival at the nurse’s office. She peered inside the darkened room—it seemed the nurse hadn’t arrived yet. Feeling her way around, Frisk slowly walked over to one of the vacant beds and lay down. Even though it seemed like a terrible idea, given that she was almost certain that if she fell asleep she’d see something horrible again, she couldn’t muster the strength to stay awake any longer. Surely this time it would be different?

\--

_Frisk’s eyes shot open and immediately she regretted everything. No… She had just closed her eyes; she was supposed to be sleeping in the nurse’s office at school! She couldn’t look around her this time, but she still knew where she was._

_Looking straight ahead at the bridge she was suspended on, she remembered it as being one of the places she had encountered Undyne in from back in the underground. At that point in time, Frisk had sprung to the rescue of one of the local monster children, who had tripped and nearly fallen off the bridge. Back then, Undyne had backed off when she saw Frisk’s act of heroism and the human had been able to avoid conflict at that moment in time. It was then she noticed a terrified figure that was standing in front of her._

_“If you’re going to hurt innocent m-monsters, th-then I guess I-I’ll have to stand in your w-way!” It was the same child that Frisk had saved before. His eyes were large and round and he was shivering as he stared at Frisk, his crackling voice betraying the bravery he was trying to muster._

_Frisk felt the corners of her mouth curl up in a smirk against her will._

_“Well that’s a shame!” She heard her own voice cackle out. “Guess you’ve gotta die now.”_

_Frisk couldn’t move, scream, or even blink, but she pleaded and begged for her body to stop moving, to stop approaching the shivering, innocent child, to stop raising the knife, to stop smiling with such unbridled glee._

_“Shut up, Frisk. You and I both know this is something you’ve always wanted.” Frisk heard herself sneer._

_But the knife did not connect to the child._

_“Heh. Kid. I thought I told you to get out of here.” A large fish-like woman was impaled on the blade, shielding the small monster child from the carnage. She had just stabbed Undyne, her friend, in the chest! Frisk tasted blood and was horrified when she realized she had been sprayed by the blood of her friend, and the person controlling her made her lick her lips hungrily._

_Frozen from shock, Frisk could barely comprehend Undyne’s body slowly disintegrating to dust as the monster child took flight and left the scene._

_“Ugh…Shit.” Undyne chocked out. “So this is it, huh? I let everyone down, didn’t I?” Her body had all but disappeared as she coughed out more blood._

_Frisk felt herself laugh cruelly. “Some heroine! I can’t believe it only took one hit! That’s amazing!” Against her will, Frisk felt some small sense of satisfaction boil up from within. No, oh god no. Was she **enjoying** this? Frisk wanted to puke, she wanted to get out of this nightmare, she wanted to stop thinking all these horrible thoughts!_

_“I told you, Frisk. I told you you enjoyed this.” Frisk heard the voice within her head, giggling maniacally._

_“No.” Undyne’s body had stopped disintegrating. Her eyes glowed with a fiery passion as her body began to regenerate. “It will not end here. I will stop you, you evil creature!” She reappeared, looking stronger and more determined than before as she stood in front of Frisk. A large, glowing blue spear appeared in her hand and she charged at Frisk, who was caught unaware._

_For the first time in the dream, Frisk had control over her own body, but it was only to scream in agony as the spear pierced through her flesh. She was thrown to the ground, the knife she was holding clattered off somewhere. Looking up, she saw a look of pure rage on Undyne’s face as the warrior approached, seething with each breath._

_“For Papyrus, for all the other monsters you’ve killed!” Undyne screamed at Frisk, who was coughing up blood and sobbing uncontrollably. “I’m determined to bring you down!” She readied a barrage of spears against the small child._

_“C’mon, Frisk, you might really die.” Everything around Frisk started to slow down as she heard the voice whisper in her head. “Don’t you want to give it a try, for real, this time?” The voice was no longer in her head, but right beside her, breathing in her ear threateningly. Two dark hands encircled her own as the knife was pushed back into her grip. “Go ahead, drive this into her heart.” Out of the corner of her eye, Frisk could see a dark shadow looming over her, draping itself onto her, hypnotizing her into holding the knife out in front of her as Undyne slowly approached. “It’ll feel **so good**.”_

_Frisk couldn’t look away from what she was about to do. She couldn’t scream in terror and she couldn’t pull her arms away from plunging the blade into Undyne’s warm chest._

_Time returned to normal and Frisk at once felt the warm spray of fresh monster blood all over her small frame as the blade tore into the torso of the warrior unrelentingly. Undyne let out a piercing, agonized scream and recoiled back, clutching at her chest as the blood rapidly left her body. She collapsed to her knees and peered at Frisk, who was standing there, trying to hold down the feeling of triumph from bubbling up into her mind._

_“So, all that power, all that determination—for nothing.” Undyne closed her eyes. “I’m sorry Papyrus…Sans…Asgore…Alphys…” Undyne’s body began to collapse, as if she was melting away. “Oh, that’s right.” She looked up at Frisk with a final look of defiance. “I told Alphys to watch me. I-if anything happened to me,” her body pooled and dripped to the ground. “Then she’d evacuate everyone. By now, everyone has been led to safety, and Asgore alerted. He’ll…put a stop to you… We won’t give up hope…”_

_“Oh gosh! Then I’ll just have to hunt everyone down,” Frisk’s face was contorted into a smile as her voice was twisted to a fake sing-song-y tone. “ **and kill them all**.”_

_Undyne’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak one last time, but her body collapsed into dust before she could get the words out._

_Frisk stared in fear and disgust at what she had done. She had just killed Undyne, her friend. Flashes of Undyne teaching her how to cook and play fighting with her flooded through her mind. What had she done? And…she had almost **enjoyed** it._

_“Not ‘almost,’ Frisk. You **did**. Don’t even try to tell me that that wasn’t the least bit enjoyable: fighting for your life and then watching Undyne break down. Isn’t it fun?! Seeing all these supposedly strong creatures yield to our power!?”_

_Frisk tried to tell the voice that it wasn’t right, what they did was horrible, so sick and twisted, so despicable that they should be the ones being destroyed. Frisk desperately tried to wake herself up from this accursed dream, she wanted to go back, she wanted to forget all the horrible things that she had seen happen to her friends in her dreams._

_“Oh!” the voice laughed with a sick glee. “You still think these are all dreams, don’t you?”_

_Confusion and shock flooded Frisk’s mind. If these weren’t dreams, then…_

_“You’ll find out soon enough, fool.”_

\-- 

Frisk awoke to a shaking sensation. Startled, she flung herself away from what was causing the obtrusive motion. Her head hit the back of the wall as she glanced up to see the school nurse looking at her with concern—the nurse must have shook Frisk awake. 

“Are you alright sweet-heart? You were mumbling in your sleep.” 

Frisk nodded quickly, trying not to cry at how happy she was to not be in that horrible dream state anymore, happy she didn’t have to see the death of Undyne, didn’t have to see Undyne’s fresh blood flying towards her— 

Frisk leaned over the bed and threw up, no it was so horrible, so detestable, so disgusting. The voice had been right; some small part of her had actually enjoyed it. She was a horrible human being for thinking such terrible things, she realized as she wretched loudly onto the floor, listening to the sick smack of her sick onto the floor. 

“Oh, sweetie, let me get you a trashcan.” The nurse scurried behind her desk to get a waste basket for Frisk, who was trying not to hyperventilate. “Maybe I should call your family, too. Possibly the janitor…” the nurse said aloud. 

Frisk paled and whipped her head around to look at the nurse as she wiped her mouth. Thinking quickly as the nurse returned back with the trash can, Frisk reached out to her arm to stop from leaving to go call Toriel. Frisk smiled meekly, trying her best to look more embarrassed than completely unnerved and panicked. As calmly as possible, Frisk told the nurse that she threw up because she ate her breakfast too quickly due to the fact that she was late for school. Then she added quickly that it was something she had to be careful of—she had a sensitive stomach. 

“Well, I suppose so.” The nurse looked down at Frisk with a stern expression. “Are you feeling better then?” 

Frisk nodded, feeling as though the fake smile she wore would crack her face open. 

The nurse sighed, trying not to look down at the pile of vomit. “Why don’t you, uh, head to your class, now?” 

Frisk nodded again and got up off the bed, careful to dart around the pile of regurgitation, and headed out of the nurse’s office. 

The hallways were empty, and Frisk looked around rapidly to make sure no teachers or fellow students were watching her as she made her way to the front doors of the school. There was no way she could continue being at school, no way she could keep focusing on her schoolwork with her thoughts a mess, and the vivid memories of killing Toriel, Pappyrus, and Undyne floating through her head. She cringed visibly, remembering how her blade slashed through each one of her loved ones, and tried to fight back the rise of bile that tried to slither up her throat. 

She paused for a moment when she realized she was headed in the direction of her home. Not only was that a fairly long ways away, she knew that at the very least, Sans would be there at the house, since Papyrus was at his job and Toriel was teaching at the monster school. She didn’t want to see Sans. Sure, maybe Frisk should have told Sans what was going on. He was one of her guardians after all, and he told her himself to talk to him if anything went wrong. 

_Don’t tell that garbage anything._

Her head snapped up and she wasn’t sure for a moment if that was the voice from her dreams speaking or one of her own thoughts. But she wasn’t dreaming. There was no way that voice or person or shadow could have spoken to her. Frisk looked around, almost expecting something to be standing near her, but sighed when she found nothing. Maybe she was losing it? She hadn’t had a whole lot of sleep over the past couple of days, so perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her? Rubbing her itchy, tired eyes, Frisk felt that eerie feeling creep up on her about Sans yet again. No, she definitely couldn’t tell Sans. Even if he told her that he would be there for her, she felt as though if she, the hero who had broken the barrier, who had peacefully befriended every monster she had come across, admitted to having nightmares of murdering her family, something bad would happen to her by Sans. She didn’t know what, but she felt like it would be the worst possible thing she could experience. 

Sighing, she decided she would return back to the park to help clear her thoughts. She broke out into a slow run, stretching her legs, letting the pain of activity blur out the grotesque things her mind was forcing her to remember. 

She had relief for only a little while, as she ran along the road, picking up speed as she did. Then, one by one, the memories creeped back. 

Toriel looking disgusted at the small child, then being slashed at the neck, blood spewing out, looking at Frisk in horror and revulsion... 

Papyrus looking at her fearfully, being smashed to pieces, crumbling into dust, the sickening crack of his skull breaking underfoot even as he told her he believed in her… 

Undyne piercing Frisk’s body with her glowing spears, the warrior’s body being hacked away by the lethal blade, her body melting into nothingness before dissolving… 

The countless other monsters that begged for mercy that Frisk would not deliver to them as she stood in front of them, sneering wickedly as she brought the blade down— 

No wait, where that come from? 

Alphys shrieking in terror as Frisk broke into the lab, savoring the look of fear in the small scientist’s eyes before driving the knife— 

Oh god, please no, she wasn’t even sleeping! 

Sans’ murderous expression as he stared deep into her soul, calling her a dirty brother killer, covered in blood, her blood, as he extended his hand to— 

Frisk let out a yelp and tripped, not realizing that she had broken out into a full sprint far too fast than what her legs could keep up with. She slammed into the ground, knees first, and cried out when she felt a searing pain shoot through her. That was definitely going to be two bloody knees, she thought glumly—just one more thing to hide from her family. 

“Whoa! Punk! Are you ok?” 

A familiar voice called out to Frisk and she hesitated before getting up. She knew it was Undyne, and she refused to look up. The small child didn’t want to turn to look at her friend, worried that she would hallucinate horrible things instead of the warrior’s visage. Hearing a car door open and footsteps undoubtedly Undyne approach, Frisk panicked, not sure what to say. 

“Frisk?” Undyne tried again, placing a hand on top of the human’s head. 

“I-is she o-ok?” A squeaky voice called out, Alphys. 

Chancing a glance upwards, she saw Alphys’ minivan parked alongside the curb, with the scientist leaning to see out the window at Undyne and Frisk. 

Thinking quickly, Frisk forced an embarrassed smile as she rubbed the back of her head, telling her friends that she just took a tumble because she wasn’t paying attention. 

“Ah, man, you scraped your knees pretty bad, punk.” Undyne bent down to look at Frisk’s knees, which were oozing a small stream of blood down her legs. 

“O-oh dear!” Alphys blurted from the car, scurrying out to join the other two. “We should get that treated! H-hey, wait, Frisk, shouldn’t you be in school right now?” 

Frisk tried to keep from glancing nervously around, looking for an escape, and merely stated that she just didn’t feel like school that day, not entirely sure of what else to say. She quickly added that she would instead practice her running to get strong, like Undyne. It was her hope that flattery of Undyne would get the warrior to side with her. 

“Well, school is pretty boring, to be fair.” Undyne looked down at Alphys with a knowing look. “But, we should get that treated. Hey! Since you’re already playing hooky, you should come over! We’re going to be watching Alphys’ anime!” She grinned down at Alphys, who was blushing slightly. 

“We shouldn’t c-condone such acts, you know.” She stuttered out. 

“Nonsense!” Undyne beamed. “It’s just for one day, right punk? You don’t do this all the time, just today?” 

Frisk nodded quickly, trying to avoid looking at the image of Undyne, who was currently melting and bleeding. Anything to keep them from asking any more questions. Anything to get Frisk away from the horrors she was hallucinating. 

Alphys sighed, relenting to her girlfriend. “Ok. But if T-toriel finds out about this, you know she’s g-going to have a cow—er, goat?” 

Frisk and Undyne nodded, and with that, the three climbed into the idling vehicle and drove off. 

\-- 

“S-so, Frisk…um, tell me the real r-reason.” Alphys stuttered out unsure, looking to Frisk, who was sitting against the couch on the floor. 

Frisk’s head whipped around to face Alphys, shocked that this was being brought up now. Undyne’s even soft snores were the only sounds heard above the anime that they were supposed to be watching, doing little to keep the tension in the room down. Frisk tried to ignore the liquification of the warrior, the blood that was appearing on her hands, the mass of dust that was slowly settling in the room and focus on Alphys, who was looking at her suspiciously. Frisk wanted to cry and scream out, but held it in. 

She rubbed the back of her head, attempting to look sheepish, and then looked down at her bandaged knees, which Alphys and Undyne had treated not twenty minutes before. She told Alphys that there were nothing but boring classes that day—stuff she already knew how to do, so she didn’t feel the need to relearn it. Frisk swiftly added that she was already caught up on her schoolwork, so there was nothing that would affect her grades. She looked back at the scaly scientist. Deep down, she felt a bitter pang of disappointment in herself. She had never lied this much to anyone before in her life—not that she could remember a whole lot before she came to the underground. She desperately hoped Alphys would believe her, because she was certain the longer she made eye contact with her, the less believable she seemed. 

“A-are you sure there’s nothing or no one bothering you at school? Y-you can t-talk to me, you know. I know a lot a-about b-being bullied, a-and stuff.” 

Frisk let out what she hoped was a genuine giggle and told her that she wasn’t being bullied—everyone was nice to her. She had plenty of friends at school and today was really just a case of her being bored. She wouldn’t do it again, she promised. 

“W-well, you know Toriel w-wouldn’t like hearing that her daughter is skipping school.” Alphys glanced down at Frisk, frowning. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then asked, “A-and nothing at h-home is b-bothering you?” 

Frisk shook her head, smiling, then nearly jumped out of her skin when Undyne turned in her sleep. The small human glanced nervously at Alphys, hoping she hadn’t noticed the lack of composure just then. A silent sigh was released when Frisk saw that she had turned away. 

Alphys sighed and rubbed at her head, massaging circles on her temples. “Ok, Frisk. B-but promise me you won’t skip anymore, o-ok?” 

Frisk nodded her head and quickly looked away, feeling sick to her stomach. She managed a glance at Undyne and nearly shrieked when she felt the ghost pains of the spear impaling her from her dream. Silently praying that Alphys didn’t notice how close she was to losing it, Frisk asked Alphys if she would not tell Toriel or the skeleton brothers that she skipped school. She reasoned they would be less understanding as Alphys and Undyne. Then she quietly asked if Alphys would take her home, so that Toriel would not come to the school and worry when she was not there. 

Alphys nodded and sighed, pulling out her cell phone. She texted something on it rapidly, before closing the phone and putting it back into the pocket of her lab coat. 

“I texted Toriel that Undyne and I would pick you up from school, and that we’d hang out afterward, then take you home. So… that should cover for you. B-but I’m not doing this ever again, you hear?” Alphys grumbled. 

Frisk nodded, turning her attention back to the TV, savoring the fact that the TV was still normal, and was a welcome distraction to keep the memories of her murdering her family out of her head. 

\-- 

As the minivan drove up to Frisk’s house, the small human felt the urge to shrink down in her seat, not wanting to leave, but also not wanting to stay and keep hallucinating terrible things every time she looked at Undyne. 

“Alright, catch you later, punk!” Undyne gave Frisk a pat on the head, ruffling her hair messily. Frisk flinched, a sudden pain shooting up from her chest. 

“A-and stay in school, ok?” Alphys called out as Frisk got out of the car. 

Frisk made her way to the front door, aware of the two watching her intently as to make sure she got in safely. When she opened the door and slipped inside, she heard the car drive off, and then broke down, sobbing quietly. 

Those visions she had seen from before, they were so awful. Why did her mind constantly have to remind her of those disgusting dreams! She had even seen more than were in her dreams. She saw Alphys about to… She was about to… 

Frisk glanced around quickly, tears streaming down her face as she made sure none of her family were home. The only one who might have been home at that point was Sans; Toriel was probably coming home from teaching at the monster school, and Papyrus was at his part-time job until later. Silencing her crying, Frisk listened for a bit before taking a small step forward. 

The house remained quiet. Sans didn’t seem to be home; she couldn’t hear him snore or shuffle around. 

Staggering forward, feeling the phantom pain in her chest and real pain from her scraped knees, she made her way into the living room, peering around to make sure no one truly was home. Oh god… it hurt. All of it hurt so bad. 

Fresh tears began to flow down her face and she darted into her room. She threw herself onto the bed and buried her face into her pillow as she cried. No, these were all just dreams… 

Only harmless, awful dreams. They couldn’t hurt her, and she hadn’t really hurt her family. It was simply not possible. She was just…tired. This was all from a lack of sleep. 

She would be fine… she was ok… 

Frisk heard the front door open and the chattering of familiar voices fill the house. It was comforting listening to the sounds of Papyrus, Sans, and her mother talking happily amongst themselves. Fresh tears fell and she began to shake. She wanted to go out and greet them, she wanted to go out there and cling to her family and cry and let it all out and tell them the terrible things she had seen, but she knew that it would only hurt them. They would be horrified if they knew what was deep inside her head, disgusted if they knew what her mind imagined her to do every night when she dreamed. 

Frisk’s breath hitched in her throat as she heard footsteps approach. 

“Frisk, my child, are you home?” Toriel called gently as she knocked on the door. “I have a surprise for you.” 

Silently Frisk flung the covers on top of herself and faced away from the door, and steadied her breathing, making it seem like she was asleep. There was no way she could face her mother like she was. 

The door creaked open softly and Frisk heard her mother approach and then stop. “Oh, my child.” 

“What’s up, Tori?” 

Frisk heard Sans call softly. Most likely Sans and Papyrus were peeking into the room, wondering why Frisk wasn’t waiting for them like she usually did. Frisk’s heart stopped. She could almost feel San’s gaze on her, even though she had her back turned. 

“Oh, she’s asleep. I suppose playing with Alphys and Undyne tired her out.” Toriel let out a soft chuckle. 

“Well that is a shame!” Papyrus did his best to whisper, though it still came out a little loud. “We can’t tell her about the surprise!” 

“Shh… Let’s let her sleep for as long as she likes.” Toriel ushered the two skeletons out of the room and Frisk could hear their voices talking quietly in the other room. 

Frisk wouldn’t close her eyes, wouldn’t let herself drift off to sleep. She knew that if she fell asleep, she would see more nightmares, see more friends die by her hand, see more horrors than she would know what to do with. She wanted to think that these were dreams, and that she could escape them… 

Just as long as she didn’t sleep… 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

The sun hit Frisks’ eyes, but did not wake her, as she was already sitting up in bed, rocking back and forth slightly. She had been plagued all night long by terrors of falling asleep and dreaming about hurting more friends, so she had stayed awake all throughout the night. She wasn’t sure what time it was, only that she didn’t want to leave her bed. Her eyes were heavy, red, and swollen from crying all night, and she was certain she would have dark circles under her eyes, which would be difficult to explain to everyone. She desperately craved sleep, but every time she would try to relax and let the glorious slumber take her, Frisk would be reminded of the horrible visions of dying monsters, and with each reminiscence of drawing the accursed blade, a little more satisfaction would rise inside of her (“Can’t you feel it?”), and she’d hate herself a little more—thus sleep was refused. She might’ve been incredibly sleep-deprived, but at least she hadn’t seen any new nightmares, only repeats of the same dreams danced through her head, and Frisk wasn’t sure at this point which she would have rather had.

She didn’t know how much time had passed on that Saturday morning before she heard the scufflings of the other members of the household. Judging by the footsteps, it seemed like Toriel was up first, followed by Papyrus. It wasn’t long before she heard their voices stir from what she assumed to be the kitchen, as pots and pans clanked together and the distinct sound and smell of sizzling bacon filled the air. It sounded like they were preparing a feast, and Frisk felt bad, feeling her stomach turn sour as she recalled the feeling of warm monster blood being spilled for the twentieth time that night, or morning; it was getting harder to tell.

More time passed by and she heard a door open nearby, most likely Sans, she figured, and felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up when his shuffling stopped at her doorway. Breathing hitched, chest tightened, she briefly wondered if he would come into her room. He stood there for a while, making Frisk’s heart beat so rapidly and loudly that she wondered if he could hear it, and if he could sense her dread. But he left, shuffling toward the kitchen, letting out a yawn, and Frisk relaxed, if ever so slightly.

Through the night, the vision she had seen of Sans showing a murderous expression played through her head over and over, as if on repeat. That wasn’t Sans, it wasn’t, she told herself. Sans was kind, he was a good friend, he cared about her, (“He’s trash.”) he was dangerous and she couldn’t let herself be caught off guard by him. Nonetheless, having that memory in her head—it hadn’t come from a dream, it had been a vision…or was it a memory? The voice that had been in her head had alluded to the fact that perhaps these weren’t dreams or nightmares at all, but…

_“Visions from the past.”_

Frisk’s head whipped up, startled, her suspicions confirmed. Trying not to hyperventilate, or cry again (she was almost certain that she was a touch dehydrated from sobbing all night long), she steadied her nerves. It was all in the past, no one remembered, it was okay. She was okay. She could get through this. Just like how she got through the underground even though a lot of her friends tried to kill her, just like how she was able to get through her fight with Toriel, and Papyrus, and Undyne, and Asgore, just like how she was able to get through the barrier with her friends, she was going to be okay.

_“Just keep telling yourself that.”_

The voice was getting stronger in her head. It was finally creeping out into her awakened state, no longer fit to be tied down to her dreams.

Maybe Frisk wasn’t going to be okay…

She heard the front door open and more voices fill the house. Listening closely, she realized it was Alphys and Undyne. What were they doing here? Frisk paled. She would need to leave her room eventually, otherwise someone would come in to get her, and they would see her in such a state. Frisk rubbed her eyes vigorously, trying to hold back more tears. If Frisk left her room anyway… She worried that she would see more deplorable things—her mind would imagine all of her friends as the monster corpses that she herself killed. Frisk couldn’t take that. No, if she saw that she would lose it.

Slowly she got up and scooted off the bed. She could hear the others wondering where Frisk was, and hushing Papyrus, who was worried about whether or not Frisk would like the “surprise,” and the small human let herself smile a little. Her small gesture vanished when she heard Sans tell his brother to be quiet. Sans was the monster she wanted to see the least. She wasn’t ready to face ( _“Smiley Trashbag”_ ) him and his penetrating gaze. Her head flashed with a terrible image of Sans glaring at her and she clutched her head in pain, holding back a shriek.

Recovering, Frisk picked out some fresh clothes and bundled them under her arm. There was no getting out of leaving her room, so at the very least she was going to try to make herself look slightly more presentable; maybe even a shower would help her look more refreshed, as well.

Quietly she opened her bedroom door and looked from side to side, making sure no one was watching her. The coast was clear; she darted into the bathroom and locked the door. Turning to the mirror, she held back a gasp in surprise. Her eyes did indeed have dark circles under them, her hair was frizzy and frazzled, her shoulders slumped forward and she just looked like a mess. She blinked. In that moment she found herself to be covered in warm, sticky monster blood, with an image of her chest torn open, its’ contents sagging out of her torso. She let out a yelp and stumbled back, nearly smashing her head into the bathtub as she fell.

“Hey kiddo, you ok?”

Frisk heard Sans call from outside the bathroom, concerned. Frisk made an attempt to laugh it off, but found her throat and mouth too stiff to cooperate, and instead retorted that she was fine, just lost her footing for a moment. She could sense him loitering by the door, and she just knew he didn’t believe her.

“Ok… kid. Just hurry it up, will ya? We’ve got quite the feast happening out here, y’know.”

She noticed he didn’t crack a pun like he usually did. He knew something was up. He could see right through her even though he hadn’t even seen her! She began to panic, breathing hard; he’d tell the others she wasn’t ok. He’d tell them about her incident in class! Did he know about her dreams too? ( _“Oh, he knows.”_ ) Jumping up, she slammed on the fan in the bathroom and turned on the water from the shower full blast, and let herself cry, the background noise hopefully drowning out her wails as more horrific images of mangled, betrayed friends echoed through her head.

\--

Half an hour later (or maybe an hour, time seemed to stretch on far too long), Frisk emerged from the shower, looking fairly more presentable, but quivering in fear. She looked down at her knees, which were covered by the pants she purposefully chose to wear to cover up the scrapes on her knees, which had scabbed over at that point. She was already a mess; she didn’t need anyone else commenting on them. She took a deep breath and tried to push the sounds of dying monsters into the back of her head as she stepped out into the hallway.

As she stepped into the living room, Undyne, who was sitting on the couch next to Sans and Alphys, was the first to notice her.

“Hey punk! Good morn—whoa, you look like crud!” She shouted, waking Sans from his small nap. Sans opened an eye lazily and trained it on Frisk, who could feel shivers travel down her spine. She hoped, futilely, that Sans didn’t notice how sleep-deprived she looked.

Alphys shot Undyne a look. “H-hey Frisk, good morning. A-are your knees f-feeling better?”

It was an innocent enough question, but Frisk paled when she realized not only Papyrus and Toriel were peeking from the kitchen with concern, but Sans was sitting up from the couch, looking at her with an expectant expression, almost as if he was waiting for her to give an excuse, if only to refute it out loud ( _“Scheming Trash…”_ ). She tried to smile and say that she was fine, but her voice cracked, sore from her crying, and she hoarsely whispered that she was ok. That was a mistake—before she knew it, she had been scooped up into Papyrus’ arms as he cradled her protectively.

“What’s this? Human you are hurt? Why didn’t you say anything? Toriel, can’t you fix her?”

Toriel was already on her way over, looking very concerned. “My child, I’m sorry, if only I had known, I wouldn’t have let you suffer so.” Her hands were already glowing with a bit of healing magic and Frisk tried not to flinch away from either Papyrus or Toriel as the latter took her and placed her on a chair at the kitchen table. Frisk felt everyone’s eyes on her and did her best not to shake as her mother rolled up her pant legs and gasped when she saw how bruised and scabbed over her daughter’s knees were. Toriel shot them a glance. “Did you not want to tell me that my child was hurt yesterday?” She said it politely, but there was still an accusatory air to her question.

Alphys looked up at Undyne, worriedly, who shrugged. “It wasn’t that big of a deal. Frisk is a real trooper. You think a couple of bloody knees were gonna bog her down like that?”

Toriel snorted and waved her hands slowly over Frisk’s knees, letting the cooling magic settle into her flesh. “It just would have been nice. To know that your child had been hurt. But thank you for at least treating her wounds. I assume you didn’t just let my daughter walk around without treating her.” Her tone was kind, but she said it through clenched teeth and Undyne scowled, about to say something, but was nudged by her girlfriend, and relented, nodding at the older woman.

Her magic stung badly; far worse than Frisk had ever felt it. It wasn’t supposed to hurt! Healing magic was supposed to feel good! But it was as though the magic was ripping apart her skin and cutting right into her bone. Was it because of her guilt? Was it because somehow Toriel was aware of how twisted her daughter was? Frisk could barely contain her pain, and winced as she tried not to let tears slip down her face in front of everybody.

“Oh yes! Human—Frisk! You went to sleep really early yesterday, but we have a surprise for you today since you’ve been working so hard!” Papyrus interrupted, changing the mood either purposefully or unconsciously. “My trip to the zoo was most informative and very much great fun! I had a talk with Toriel, and she suggested we all go together!” Papyrus beamed at the small human child.

Frisk stared at him, trying not to cry out as his head began to distort and twist into that of fear and horror, the same expressions she had seen before when she was murdering him. As he stepped closer, his body appeared to break down, his bones loosening from their joints and falling with audible thuds onto the floor, his body collapsing piece by piece in front of her, until finally his head landed at her feet. “Well, how about it?” She heard him ask before his head shattered completely, raining a storm of dust upon her. 

She blinked.

He was standing in front of her, looking down at her with a hopeful smile. Frisk looked at the others in the room who were either smiling or giving her a thumbs-up, except Sans, who was peering at her with that same grinning unfathomable expression; his pupils disappearing into the void of his eye-sockets. ( _“What an eyesore.”_ ) Frisk was starting to really hate that expression.

The small human, who felt cornered, crack a smile, and cringed in pain. Smiling was actually starting to hurt now. But she nodded, nonetheless, and said that was a great idea, telling Papyrus that that made her happy. The taller skeleton brother beamed down at her, no doubt full of pride that she appreciated his idea.

“But first, Papyrus and I have been busy at work making a wonderful breakfast today. It’s going to be,” Toriel gave a quick glance around the room, giving everyone, especially Sans, a goofy grin. “Eggcellent.” Papyrus groaned in the background, putting a gloved hand on his head as Toriel continued. “We’re almost done, so why don’t you and Sans set the table for everyone?” Toriel gave Frisk a hug, gently stroking her head. Frisk would have found this moment comforting had she not been remembering the sounds of Toriel’s haunting voice, telling her she was a monster, and then disintegrating after gushing with blood. But Toriel disengaged the hug ( _“Good riddance…”_ ), and headed to the kitchen with Papyrus in tow, muttering something about not wanting to let the bacon burn.

Frisk sat there for a second, tying to ignore the very audible voice in her head, not willing to chance a glance over at Sans, who had gotten up slowly, and had already made his way over to her.

“C’mon kiddo.” She could almost hear the wariness in his voice and paled, knowing that Sans was definitely onto her at this point, joking and playful tone all but absent.

\--

As they piled into Alphys’ minivan, Frisk tried not to lose it as the faces of her friends expectantly waiting for her to climb in last began to bleed and dissolve—except for Sans, whose left eye began to glow in a particularly haunting, intense, blue color. As Frisk began to ponder whether or not she could make it back to the bathroom and lock the door to hide from everything before she was caught by someone, Toriel’s voice rang out, interrupting her.

“What’s the matter, my child? Do you not feel well?”

Frisk realized that she had been frowning deeply, and snapped to attention, rubbing the back of her head and smiling as goofily as she could. She told her mother she was fine ( _“Liar.”_ ), and told her it had just been a while since she had seen the minivan so full, and climbed into the car as Alphys started the engine.

“Oh hey, Human-Frisk! I forgot to ask you if you had ever been to the zoo!” Papyrus’ headless torso, which was sitting behind her, suddenly rang out as the minivan pulled away from the house. Frisk paled, watching it ooze onto her as it leaned over to whisper loudly into her ear ( _“Disgusting.”_ ). Frisk slapped at the bit of Papyrus that had fallen onto her, watching as it fell to the floor, splatting onto the interior. “Uh, I just thought that if not, maybe you would… like it, since I, the Great Papyrus, found it most good! I mean… you really like my idea, right?” Frisk wasn’t sure if Papyrus had noticed her reaction or not, but he sounded slightly confused just then, so she assumed he noticed her horrified actions. She prayed no one else noticed her ( _“ **He** noticed. Smiley trash saw you.”_ ), and tried to get the voice to stop talking to her before something really went wrong.

Frisk gave a curt nod, feeling her palms become clammy, trying not to turn around and make eye contact with either of the skeleton brothers ( _“They’re nothing but trash anyway.”_ ). Undyne turned around in her seat, sitting in front of Frisk, and looked at the small child.

“Yeah, Papyrus wouldn’t shut up about it, said there’s a lot of these ‘fish’ things that look just like me. Weird, huh, punk?” Undyne’s grin oozed with repugnant, rotting blood, coating the headrest with dark crimson grime. Frisk looked away, feeling a ghost pain in her chest ( _“They’re all disgusting. We can fix this, you know?”_ ), and held back a gag as the car passed by several buildings, heading into the city. Undyne stopped grinning and looked down at Frisk. “Whoa, are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

Frisk nodded, still not looking up, not wanting to watch as the flesh began to drip off of her friend’s face, spilling onto the floor, starting to touch her tiny feet. She pulled her feet up, trying not to let anymore of the pooling flesh touch her; this was starting to get a little too much for her and her breathing began to quicken.

“What’s wrong?” Alphys called from the driver’s seat, peering at Frisk through the rearview mirror as she drove

“My child, your face is red, are you quite alright?” Toriel’s hand touched Frisk’s head, and Frisk let out a small whimper as she felt it become red hot, searing into her head. Her eyes darted over to her mother’s briefly, and she saw that look of revulsion and admonishment as she had seen many times already, before her mother’s face slid off of her head in a slow, oozing way, the rest of her head following suit ( _“You can fix them, Frisk, with my help…”_ ). At this point, Frisk had lost control of her façade completely and began to feel hot tears fall from her eyes. She felt the car come to a stop at a light.

And suddenly, all eyes were on her, burning a hole into her with their reproachful, dying gazes.

_“You know what to do, Frisk…”_

“Punk, whoa, don’t cry—“

It was getting harder to breathe.

“I-is everything a-alright back there—“

She began to hyperventilate

“Human-Frisk! Why are you breathing like that—“ 

Oh god, she had to get out of there.

“Little one, please tell me what’s wrong—“

The walls of the van were starting to close in on her, she could feel every gaze on her, could feel his gaze on her, judging her, staring right into her very essence.

_“Just kill them all, Frisk…”_

She covered her ears and clenched her eyes shut, trying to block everything out. And then she heard it.

**“Sounds like you’re having a bad time, kiddo.”** A solid blue eye loomed near Frisk threateningly and she lost it from there.

Alphys, unsure of what to do as the light turned green, began to move forward.

“Keep the car still, Alphys!” Toriel yelled out, probably louder than anyone had heard her scream before.

But Frisk had already sprung to action, ripping her seatbelt out of its’ holder and slamming the door open, all eyes wide with alarm, hands reaching for her as she leaped out of the car and spilled onto the ground, rolling to a stop in front of another car, who swerved, narrowly avoiding her.

“FRISK!”

The human heard them scream out her name, but she was already on her feet, sprinting away from the people she had hurt, narrowly missing another car, ignoring the pain she felt from her fall, ignoring the pain she felt from everything. She heard footsteps and more screams from behind her, but fled full force, dodging into alleyways and sliding under small holes in fences to escape. Her feet pounded the pavement as she moved, faster than she ever thought she could, tears blurring her vision as she choked out sobs.

She never looked back as she ran, but heard the footsteps and shouts for her get softer and softer until they finally disappeared.

She choked back a sob as she slowed down, coming to a halt next to a dumpster. Her breathing ragged, lungs burning, heart slamming in her chest, she leaned over and vomited loudly, throwing up the meal Toriel and Papyrus had prepared for her. She finished retching and leaned against the dumpster, its’ metal exterior cool to touch and slightly calming as her throat and body burned.

_“Well that was stupid.”_

Frisk slid down into a huddle and begged the voice to stop.

_“Why should I? You’re the one who needs to stop.”_

Frisk asked them what they meant.

_“Stop trying to be something you’re not.”_

Frisk held back a choking sob and begged them to leave her alone. She was tired, she was sick; she just wanted it all to go away.

_“Ugh. **He’s** here.”_

Frisk’s head snapped up and she locked eyes with a very angry-looking skeleton.

“Hey kiddo.” He breathed out, glaring down at her with a red-hot intensity, his pupils tiny pinpricks of light in his skull. “So…don’t you think it’s time we talked?”

Fresh tears fell from her face. Not him, anyone but him. Her eyes widened as his pupil-less glare melted away into that of absolute abhorrence as he stared down at her, the background melting away and morphing into the judgement hall, a red fluid splashed about the skeleton. Frisk realized with a start it was blood—he was covered in her blood! He flashed a wicked grin at her, left eye glowing a dangerous blue.

**“D i r t y b r o t h e r k i l l e r…”**

Frisk saw the world spin, and then everything faded.

\--

“—would she be doing this?”

“…”

“We really can’t let the human out of the house?”

“…”

“I-I’ve never s-seen her look so t-terrible. I-I’m sorry, Toriel… I should have said something yesterday…”

“…Yes. You should have.”

“Hey! Now is not the time for bickering! We’ve got to find out what’s wrong with the kid!”

Frisk heard the voices of her family ringing out all around her, but didn’t open her eyes. She felt herself laying on something soft, her bed, perhaps? Or maybe it was the couch. The couch made sense, if it was where everyone could keep an eye on her. She could feel someone right next to her, as well as others surrounding her. She tried to keep her breathing even to make it seem like she was still asleep, which was hard, since she was spooked from everyone’s presence around her. She noticed she didn’t hurt as much as before; Toriel must have used a bit of healing magic on her while she was out.

_“Oh, you’re awake. Finally. They’ve been talking about you for a while now…it’s been pretty funny how little they know, huh?”_

Frisk lay there for a while longer, not willing to open her eyes and meet their concerned stares; or maybe they would be looking at her with anger—or maybe they would be eroding away again, like she kept on seeing. And she didn’t want to face Sans, especially not after what she had seen.

_“Well good. Worthless trash. The less we interact with him, the better.”_

Frisk could actually hear maybe… a twinge of fear in the voice? She wasn’t sure, but it unnerved her. If the voice was afraid of Sans, then shouldn’t she be as well? And Sans…he had looked angrier than Frisk had ever seen before. Did he hate her now? She was afraid of him, and yet some small part of her didn’t want him to loathe her.

“Kid’s awake.” Sans voice called out, right next to her, startling her into opening her eyes. She looked up and made the mistake of meeting his eye-sockets. “Welcome back, kiddo.” His voice was low and deep, as if he was trying to mask how threatening he was trying to be.

“Frisk, my child.” Toriel smiled from next to the small human, and approached, arms outstretched for a hug.

It was all Frisk could do to leap up from the couch and cower away from everyone, holding herself tightly. Toriel’s smile dropped and she pulled her arms back.

“What’s wrong, my child? Please, let me help you…”

Frisk backed away, shaking her head. They wouldn’t understand. She couldn’t tell them.

“Hey punk! Do ya have any idea how worried we all were? You scared the shi—crap out of everyone! I think you have some serious explaining to do!” Undyne stormed over to her, scowling down at the human. Alphys ran up to her side and tried to tug the warrior away.

“Th-this isn’t helping Undyne. Y-you’re s-scaring her…”

“Well she started it first!” Undyne pointed a finger accusingly at Frisk, who began shaking as she stared down at her feet. “She’s the one who almost died! She leapt out of the car and nearly got run over! Twice!” Shaking with rage, the warrior loomed over the small human, picking her up by her shirt collar. “What made you so afraid? What’s been going on? Why would you do something so stupid?”

A hand was on Undyne’s arm. It was Toriel, looking at her both sternly, and fiercely.

“Put her down, Undyne. Don’t treat my child this way.”

Undyne relented, not wanting to challenge the former queen, and set Frisk back down on the floor, who backed up as far as she could into a wall as she started to hallucinate her family dying all over again. She glanced at Papyrus, who was looking from Toriel and Undyne, back over to his brother, who appeared to be staring off into space, almost as if he didn’t want a part in this.

“Brother…why don’t you say anything?” the tall skeleton brother pleaded over at the shorter brother.

“Does it really matter what I say? Kid won’t talk either way.” Sans dismissively waved his hand, not acknowledging the glare Toriel shot at him.

Papyrus looked down at his feet, defeated. Frisk could tell that he wanted to say something, but couldn’t form the right words in his head.

_“He’s always been pathetic trash like that, huh?”_

Frisk shook her head furiously. No, her friend wasn’t trash. He was just worried for her.

“Will you really not speak to us?” Toriel tried again, making her voice soft and pleading.

Frisk said nothing, merely stood there, shaking, trying not to let the feeling of the room closing in on her betray the indifferent expression she wore.

Toriel sighed, and tried to approach her daughter, who shrank back against the wall even more, cowering in fear.

“I don’t know what’s wrong, little one, but I—we want to help you. Please, can’t you tell us? We won’t be angry, my child.” Tears began to roll down her cheeks, wetting her snowy fur. “I just want you to be ok.”

Frisk felt a pang of guilt, knowing she just made her mother cry. That guilt was drowned out by more hallucinations of everyone dissolving away, screaming that it was all her fault. She cringed visibly, fresh tears threatening to fall.

Undyne sighed and stepped forward. “Here’s the deal, Frisk. Something is making you like this, and you won’t talk. I kinda thought this might happen, so,” She paused, peering around the room, then settling her eye back on Frisk. “Until you feel like talking, I’m proposing that you don’t leave our sight, even while you’re asleep, until you decide to explain yourself. Each of us will take turns watching you; you don’t leave the house until we get to the bottom of this. You got it?”

Frisk didn’t nod, but she heard everyone else in the room agree to the plan.

_“Well that’s just great, isn’t it, Frisk? This is your fault, you know. You should have listened to me before.”_

\--

A few hours passed by painfully slow as Frisk sat at the kitchen table, staring down at her placemat. There was a tense hush in the kitchen and living room, as everyone tried to remain calm and watch over Frisk, attempting to maintain a semblance of normality. For a moment, the human child considered whether or not she was insane at this point; she no longer saw her friends as the monsters they were supposed to be, but the shambling beings they were right before she killed them in her dreams, except Sans, who just looked terrifying. Frisk watched from the corner of her eye as every now and then Papyrus would glance worriedly over in her direction, open his mouth as if to say something, and then close it, frowning as he turned back to stirring a pot of spaghetti sauce. Undyne stood a few feet away from him, chopping vegetables loudly, as if to drown out the silence with something. Toriel sat across from Frisk, hands folded in front of her on the table, sometimes whispering soft things Frisk couldn’t hear to her, and sometimes wiping a tear away from her eye. Alphys sat on the couch in the living room, frantically swiping and typing on her phone—Frisk wondered if she was looking up an anime or self-help book on how to deal with situations like these. And then there was Sans…

He was asleep, or at least seemed like it. He didn’t appear to be snoring, but was laying out as if he was. Looking at him filled Frisk with a wave of disgust.

_“…We need to deal with him…”_

The voice was low and threatening, sending a shiver up Frisk’s spine. She felt compelled to listen, as the sight of Sans was making her stomach turn violently.

_“The knife in the kitchen… That’d do it…”_

Frisk flinched, startled. No, she couldn’t do that. No, no…definitely not… but somehow, she was starting to agree with the voice. Maybe…maybe if Sans were gone… She wouldn’t have to worry about his stupid knowing grin anymore. Maybe she could have a little more peace…

A crash sounded in the kitchen.

“No! My Spaghetti!” Papyrus’ voice called out loudly.

“Shit! That’s hot! Papyrus, what the hell?” Undyne thundered out. Toriel and Alphys’ heads shot up, looking over at the kitchen with concern. They both got up and hurried over, wanting to see what the commotion was all about.

Frisk darted an eye over to Sans, who hadn’t moved at all.

_“Heh. Guess he’s still asleep. Now’s our time to move, Frisk.”_

As if under a spell, Frisk got up from her seat quietly and moved into the kitchen slowly. There was red everywhere, almost like blood, coating the stove, floor, and part of the walls.

“It’s going to take all night to clean this mess up!” Undyne complained loudly as Alphys began collecting paper towels

Papyrus looked as if he were panicking, and maybe like he wanted to cry. “I’m not even sure how this happened! I, the Great Papyrus, have never dropped a pot of spaghetti sauce before!”

“It’s fine, dear.”Toriel spoke softly, trying to soothe him.

“Yeah, sorry. I-I’m just on edge because of, well, you know.” Undyne sighed and took a few paper towels that were offered by her girlfriend.

A gleam from the counter took Frisk’s attention. The knife was sitting there, almost as if waiting for her to pick it up.

_“Do it.”_

Without a sound, Frisk swiped the knife from the counter, hiding it in her sleeve, the cool metallic blade sending a euphoric wave over her. It felt…right.

“My child, be careful!” Toriel called over to her and for a moment Frisk thought that she had seen the small child hide the blade away. “There’s hot spaghetti sauce everywhere in here, why don’t you go back to the table while we clean this up, ok?”

Frisk gave the slightest of nods, and headed back over to the table, stopping when she got there. She looked over at the couch. Even after all that, he was still asleep.

_“Do it, Frisk. Kill that smiley-trashbag.”_

Crueller than ever, the voice rang out in her head. Gripping the knife from within her sleeve, Frisk slowly approached the sleeping skeleton, step by step, heart hammering away in her chest, breathing almost ragged with anticipation.

_“I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long…do it Frisk…make this fool pay.”_

Frisk felt tears fall down her face, was she really about to…kill Sans? But she needed to, didn’t she? Wait, why was she doing this? She hated him, that’s why. No! He was good! He was kind to her! They’d spent so much time together, they were friends! He’d never hurt her! Or would he? He was the one who told her he would have killed her if not for Toriel. He was trash and he needed to die!

_“There’s no other way.”_

Frisk’s breath hitched as she brought up the knife, hearing a voice call out loudly from the kitchen.

“Wait, where’s the knife?”

_**“Do it Frisk. Do it!”** _

“Oh shit, FRISK!”

The small human with tears in her eyes, arms shaking wildly, brought the knife down, slashing quickly.

The knife tore savagely into couch cushions and Frisk staggered backwards into something, disoriented. Sans had been right there, what happened? She wheeled around, knife in hand, but her arm was stopped by something—Sans.

He peered down at her, pupils all but gone, his wicked grin almost forced as he gripped her hand harder, forcing her to drop the knife as she cried out in pain.

“What’cha up to, kiddo? Trying to **stab** me?” Frisk had never heard him so angry before and tears began to fall from her face as she let out a small gasp in terror. Sans leaned in closer. **“That’s not very…knife.”**

“B-brother! What happened?”

“Holy shit, Sans! Calm down!”

“O-oh god, w-what’s going on?”

“Sans! What are you doing!?”

Concerned voices rang out all around her, but all she could see was Sans’ eye-sockets, peering into her, probing her for answers.

She began to retch, fear overtaking her, and Sans let go of her arms, perhaps out of surprise. She vomited bile onto the floor, and backed away, but he came forward, not letting her escape as he silently glared at her. She could hear the others call out with concern, and noticed Sans blocking their way, telling them to stay back. It was getting harder to tell what was happening. The room was spinning, she felt empty and worn out, like she was falling into a pit she could never escape from. Sans’ left eye began to glow that familiar sickening blue.

And then all of a sudden, the room began to warp and shift.

\--

_Frisk opened her eyes and was nearly blinded._

_A bright yellow and white light enveloped all around her, shining through stained glass, almost as if surrounding her with fire. Pillars surrounded her on all sides, stretching down the hallway as if forever, towering magnificently over her. Walking forward slightly, her footsteps made hollow sounds on the orange tiled flooring, echoing throughout the room loudly, as if to interrupt the sanctity of the hallway._

_It was the Judgement Hall._

_This was where Sans had judged her in the underground. This was an encounter that she had not been prepared for, but he had made it all ok, reassuring her that she was full of love, not LOVE. He had told her he was proud of how she treated the other monsters, given her a warm hug, and sent her on her way, wishing her luck against Asgore, telling her to find what she was looking for. She was almost filled with a sense of nostalgia and comfort until she realized this was a dream._

_No, this wasn’t a dream, but a memory of some kind, she thought bitterly, looking down at her hands, holding the knife covered in dust and dried monster blood. She wondered when this had all happened; she was friends with all the creatures she had murdered in her dreams. Something just didn’t click. She wanted to cry, ashamed of herself and everything that she knew she had done. Just like her previous dreams, she couldn’t move any part of herself, and struggled weakly, to no avail._

_Suddenly Frisk heard footsteps coming towards her, thudding against the floor unceremoniously, and her head whipped to meet the sound. It was Sans, his left eye glowing brightly. He wore his usual black shorts, pink slippers, blue hoodie, but she saw a red scarf around his neck that looked suspiciously like Papyrus’. She paled. He looked absolutely filled with wrath of the highest degree._

_He stopped about 30 feet in front of her, just content to glare at her for a moment._

_“Someone’s been busy.” Dark was his voice, even though he had a smile on his face, jarring Frisk, she felt herself glare back. “So, uh, let me ask you.” He paused, sneering at her as she clutched the knife tighter. “Do you think even the worst person can change?”_

_She felt herself step forward, anticipation and adrenaline flooding her system. She was ready to murder Sans._

_“Who cares?” She heard herself hiss as she came closer to the skeleton._

_“Heh. Fine then. Let me ask you a different question. **Do you want to have a bad time, dirty brother killer?** ”_

_He had barely finished his sentence when Frisk felt herself leap forward, knife held out, ready to stab the grinning comedian in his head, ready to tear out that stupid glowing eye in his idiotic face once and for all. There was a flash and she saw something large loom over her: a massive skeletal animal head whose mouth was wide open, charging what looked like an energy beam. Everything went in slow motion as it released its attack, the white hot energy tearing through Frisk’s body, shredding her to pieces._

_And then just like that, she was back at the beginning of the Judgement Hall._

_“Good thinking, partner.”_

_Partner? Frisk felt her stomach churn. Was she really teamed up with that voice?_

_“Oh please. You know my name. It’s **Chara**. Now then, let’s try that again. This time, let’s actually stab him to death.”_

_Frisk would have cried out if she could have. Once again footsteps filled the hallway and she knew right away it was Sans. She felt herself grit her teeth and glare at him, who returned the glare with a smirk of his own._

_“Looks like someone’s getting frustrated, huh?” He chuckled at her, taunting her on._

_“Whatever, Smiley-trashbag. You’ll taste my blade soon enough.” Frisk heard herself snarl out; it was Chara, who had assumed control of Frisk’s body._

_“Heh. You’re, uh, not too **sharp** , huh, kiddo?” He gave her an unreadable look. “Let’s just get to it.”_

_Frisk leapt immediately forward, this time dodging the giant skeletal head as it rained down several energy blasts, some of which caught her foot, burning it nearly unusable. She screamed out, pain coursing through her body red hot. She landed just in time to roll away from several bones that struck the ground, leaving indents. She slammed her feet against the floor, springing forward, slashing her knife where Sans was standing._

_He effortlessly dodged out of the way, and she was immediately consumed by the energy blasts from several of his skeletal monster heads._

_Once again she found herself at the beginning of the Judgement Hall._

_“Dammit! Stop holding back, Frisk! He’s just trash! We need to get rid of him!” Chara screeched into Frisk’s head._

_Frisk would have shook, had she been in control of her own body. She couldn’t do this, this fight was just too terrible, Sans was too merciless._

_“It doesn’t matter. As long as we can reset, we’ll get him in the end.”_

_As if on cue, Sans was standing there in front of Frisk, glaring down at her._

_“What’s wrong, kiddo? Why don’t you just, uh, give up?” He shrugged, obviously making fun of her._

_Frisk felt her cheeks burn with anger. She would not give up. Not like this. Sans was in her way. In the way of what? She wasn’t sure, but he needed to be taken care of._

_“That’s the spirit, Frisk.” The voice giggled with glee._

_Once again she leapt forward, this time, feigning to the left, catching Sans off guard as she dove around his blasters and bones. Serpentining around the beams of energy, ignoring the singeing pain as they just barely connected to their target, Frisk slashed with the knife, perfectly poised behind the grinning skeleton._

_She felt something pick her up and toss her away, slamming her into a nearby pillar, where she promptly threw up blood. She screamed in pain, realizing that one of her ribs was probably broken, and maybe a lung had collapsed. Looking up, she saw Sans’ left hand glowing the same blue as his eye. Surrounding her were countless bones, all about to strike down._

_“Do your worst, fool.” Frisk felt Chara wheeze out. She was so scared, so full of hatred. She didn’t want this. It was all Sans fault. If only she could stop this madness. If only he would just **die**._

_Frisk shakily got to her feet just in time to be impaled by a dozen bones._

_She was back at the beginning, yet again. How was she doing that? Something connected within her. She could…with timelines… no, wait, what was going on? This didn’t seem possible. Or maybe it was…could she reset time? Could she go backwards? Is that why she had different memories all this time?_

_She felt herself begin to panic and found the voice, Chara, strangely quiet, but fueled by a sickening rage, nonetheless. It filled Frisk by proxy and she couldn’t tell what she wished for more: Sans’ death, or her own._

_But yet again he appeared before them._

_“So, uh, how does it feel?”_

_Chara forced a breath out of Frisk. “How does **what** feel?”_

_“To be on the other side? How does it feel to be the one receiving all this, uh, pain and chaos? You’re pretty helpless now, huh?” He flashed a grin and it drove Chara wild with rage._

_Chara screamed in fury, gripping the knife even tighter, her knuckles white with force. Frisk wanted this all to be over, but the wicked shadow forced her way forward, trying to do anything to plunge her knife into Sans, who grinned more menacingly with every reset, with every swing and miss of Chara’s._

_Until finally, Chara’s blade barely missed him, tearing through a piece of his hoodie. His eye flashed for a moment, his rage finally overtaking his desire to toy with her. Frisk felt herself get caught by his blue attack and smashed into the ground, over and over, until a crack was heard—the back of her skull had shattered and she was bleeding, the warm crimson fluid pooling by her head. She was in so much pain._

_“Everything you did to them…to my friends…I’ll pay it back ten times over…” He growled angrily, his fury radiating out of him._

_Frisk felt herself regain control and she broke out into a sob. It hurt, it hurt so much. She opened her mouth to speak, but screamed instead when four bones pierced every one of her limbs._

_“Do you think this is a game? You toyed with so many lives. My brother…” He choked, a single tear sliding down his face as he glowered at her. “My brother is dead, Undyne, Alphys, I bet you even murdered the old lady, huh?” Another bone struck Frisk in the side and she vomited blood. “Let me tell you something, kid. Something you may not know. The lady in the ruins, she was the only reason you haven’t been biting the dust thus far. She made me promise her not to harm any human that appeared in the underground. And I was an idiot, I promised her.” He laughed darkly and then motioned to her. “ **This** is why I don’t make promises.”_

_Frisk whimpered out that she was sorry, as she spat up more blood, feeling numb in her entire body, Chara strangely silent. She begged him for mercy, she cried, asking him to spare her. This wasn’t her fault, she didn’t mean for any of this to happen! She hurt so much, she begged for him to end this all, she couldn’t take it anymore. This was all too much! Sans was so terrifying! She was so sorry—_

_“Did you give the others **mercy** when they begged for it?” He all but screamed at her, cutting her off, tears were gushing down his face as his left eye flashed in rage. “Did you **spare** them when they asked you for it?” He levitated her up and smashed her into the wall. “How much pain do you think they were in when you murdered them, having so much damn fun at the cost of so many lives?” He slammed her into the ground. “This is nothing compared to the suffering you’ve caused to so many!” He slammed her into the ceiling and let her fall to the ground in a heap. She sobbed louder, unable to move, feeling the blood leave her body, but Sans refused to relent. “I’m going to make sure you feel every last bit of suffering you gave to all of those innocents. Reset all you want, kid. I’ll still be standing at the end.”_

_Then her sobbing stopped. She felt her body vibrate as an evil smirk crossed her face._

_“Oh boo hoo… Whatever. You lazy piece of trash.” Chara wheezed out, laughing slightly. “Kill me all you want, I’ll still get up. I’ll still come back. And I’ll be killing you. Every. Time.”_

_Frisk felt her body thrash so violently, she thought she would break apart. Her back arched in pain and she screamed in agony as she watched a black shadow-y cloud ooze out of her body into the air. Again Frisk regained control of her body, if to do nothing else than to cry and whimper and sob from the pain she was in and from the horrible sight that that **thing** had been inside of her the entire time. She barely registered the look of surprise on Sans’ face as he watched the spectacle happen, and then attempted to blast the foul substance out of the air._

_Chara, the shadow, easily dodged the attack and landed on the ground, forming into that of a deranged, wrong-looking human child._

_“What…are you?”_

_Frisk heard Sans call out. Her vision and hearing began to fade. She wasn’t sure what was going on anymore. She heard the far away sounds of Sans’ blasters and her own heart, pumping faster, trying to circulate what little blood she had left in her ragged body._

_There was a final blaster noise, and then footsteps coming closer to her. Frisk’s vision was so blurry, she was so cold, so tired._

_“Kid? Hey kiddo!” Sans called out to her from far away._

_No, oh god no. No more. She couldn’t take anymore. Sans would make her hurt, he would torture and kill her. She deserved it, she deserved every bad thing he could dish out at her, but she screamed and whimpered as the skeleton picked her up, cradling her close. She shrieked and apologized and whimpered and sobbed, vomiting blood onto his hoodie as she tried to get away from him._

_“Please stop moving kid, you’ve got to stop. Shit, I have to stop this bleeding. Kiddo I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that…thing was making you—“_

_But Frisk could not be consoled. She struggled in his grasp, not really hearing anything he said and thrashed about, sloshing her blood everywhere. She desperately sought a way out, any way out, she wanted to stop hurting, she wanted this to end, wanted to stop being glared at and hated by Sans. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare._

_With the last bit of her vision and strength leaving her, she looked up and saw a vibrant white light. She reached for it, ignoring the sounds of the skeleton shouting at her._

_She was surrounded by a soothing light._

_Everything stopped._

\--

And then everything started back up again.

Frisk’s eyes shot open and they immediately connected to hollow skeletal eye-sockets. Her body erupted in pain and tears poured out of her eyes as she looked around the room, breathing heavily as she connected her gaze to each worried look—except his. She could feel his cold gaze on him, could feel every attack, every slam against a hard surface, every broken bone and wound he gave her all at once. She could feel his gaze erupt into that of deepest rage.

And then she screamed.

Her voice, loud and hoarse, begged for forgiveness, screaming about how sorry she was, how she didn’t know. She begged for him, for all of them to not hurt her. She was sorry! She was so, so sorry! She fell to her knees as Sans approached; she couldn’t tell if he was asking her to calm down or to burn in hell, but still cried and sobbed as ugly tears poured forth, scooting away from him, desperately trying to avoid him. Frisk was unable to hear anything or anyone—not even Chara, in her own head as she collapsed, holding her head in her hands, her fingernails digging painfully into her skull. This had all been her fault. She put them through this and thought she could reset and make it all better. She was a monster! She deserved death for all of this and yet she didn’t want to die; she didn’t want to hurt anymore!

A hand touched her head, and Frisk slapped it away as she dashed away from the source, not knowing who it was and not caring, she screamed for whoever it was to not touch her, she didn’t want to hurt them, she didn’t want to look and see hatred in their eyes. She looked up, tears blurring her vision; she looked from each one of her family members, their faces distorted with looks of disgust? Shock? Unbridled loathing? She couldn’t tell, and her breathing became uneven as she struggled to take in air, hyperventilating and hiccupping as she wept bitterly, wanting to force these memories out, wanting to stop imagining her murdering her family, wanting to stop imagining Sans trying to murder her. She didn’t stop crying even through it all, begging and pleading for the shorter skeleton brother to spare her. She screamed how sorry she was for killing everyone. She screamed how sorry she was for enjoying it, for letting herself enjoy the carnage. She screamed because she could hear Chara laughing wickedly in her head, enjoying this moment of torment and weakness of Frisk’s. She screamed because she could finally hear everyone tell her to calm down, to just breathe, but she couldn’t, not when she was plagued with the horrible thoughts, these horrible visions, these horrible **memories** of what she did to the people she loved the most. They told her to stop as her fingernails drew blood as she dug deeper into her skin, losing all control of herself as she continued to plead for forgiveness, still scooting away from them, not willing to let her filthy sinful self be touched by such loving monsters.

Her eyes darted to the door to her room. If she ran, she might be able to run in there and slam the door shut before anyone caught her.

“Kiddo…”

She heard his voice call to her, she looked up and he was reaching for her. To stab her? To hug her? To blast her? To comfort her? She didn’t know which, but she shrieked as he came near her and bolted away, running for her door, wildly imploring for him to leave her alone. She couldn’t take his stares anymore, they were driving her mad; she could feel his gaze penetrate her right to her very core!

Arms suddenly enveloped her, causing her to come to an abrupt stop, and she realized her mother had taken a hold of her, hugging her and crying with her.

“It’s going to be okay, my child! Just please, calm down!”

No, she could not. She didn’t deserve such an embrace, didn’t deserve the woman who took her in as her own daughter. Frisk’s tears fell onto her mother’s chest and she pushed off, frantically trying to get away from the others, who tried to catch her as she sprinted towards the room, throwing the door open and flinging herself onto her bed, covering herself up with the covers.

She shook and vibrated with grief, and pleaded out loud for the voice to stop taunting her, stop telling her to try and kill everyone. It was all so horrible! Frisk felt her heart tearing inside, a sharp pain shooting all over her as she remembered the resets, the grief, the pain, the horrors she caused.

Frisk could feel the others peeking into her room and she begged for them to leave her alone, going so far as to ask for them to keep him away from her. She didn’t want them to be near her in case she went crazy again and tried to hurt her. Sobbing and weeping finally slowing down, if for no other reason than the lack of water in her body and hoarseness of her throat, she heard nothing from her family, understanding that there wasn’t much they could say to her. She dreaded what he would tell them, because she just knew he knew everything that was going on. He would tell them what was really happening, he would explain what Frisk had meant when she was screaming out her unintelligible babble. She stammered out, pleading for him not to tell the others. Not to hurt her, not to kill her, not to destroy her soul, not to hate her.

Her mutterings became softer and more sparse; she heard the others whisper amongst themselves, and Toriel’s voice softly speak out.

“I’ll watch her. Undyne, Alphys maybe you should go home.”

“N-no. I think we sh-should stay. Y-you can’t stay up all n-night and watch her b-by yourself…” Alphys quietly stammered out, sounding unsure of herself.

“She’s right. It would be wrong of us to leave now when Frisk is like this.” Undyne’s voice responded, very meek and far quieter than the small human had ever heard.

“Brother, I don’t know what is going on. Why has the human been acting like this? Is she going to be ok? What did she mean when she said she killed us?” Papyrus spoke out shakily.

Frisk did not hear a reply in between her chokes and hiccups, and was glad. His voice would have scared her too bad. He finally responded, dodging Papyrus’ question, and making Frisk nearly vomit.

“Tori, I’ll take the next watch. I can handle anything that happens, if it does.”

“No, Sans.” Toriel whispered, her voice far away and small. “I think…maybe you two should be separated…at least for a while. I think she is very frightened of you right now, and your presence wouldn’t help her.”

Frisk heard Sans make a noise like maybe he wanted to protest, but chose not to, instead shuffling off, maybe to go to his room or sit on the couch.

“Br-brother…?” Papyrus called out futilely.

“Papyrus,” Toriel started, slowly. “Can you go make up some beds for Undyne and Alphys? I think they were right about needing to be here for Frisk.”

Frisk didn’t hear anything except the sound of the tall skeleton’s boots walk off and out of the room.

“Toriel… do you need anything?” Undyne asked, full of uncertainty.

“No. I’ll just sit here,” Toriel made sounds like she was fixing up a chair and moving it across the carpeted floor to sit on in front of Frisk’s bed. “And wait for them to calm down. I’ll call for you both if anything happens.”

They didn’t respond, and Frisk let out another shudder as her tears dried, curling tighter into a ball under the covers. She heard them walk out of the room, leaving only Frisk and her mother in the silence.

It was quiet for a while before Toriel spoke up, saying something soothing but seemed to be so far away. Frisk knew she was probably trying to console her, but she just couldn’t let herself listen; she didn’t deserve it at all. She didn’t deserve her kindness or love.

Worst of all, deep down, Frisk remembered the satisfaction of holding the knife, the power over life and death it bestowed upon her.

_“Feels good, doesn’t it Frisk?”_

No, not at all. It was horrible. Why would Frisk find enjoyment in wanting to hurt everyone?

_“It’s been there the whole time; I’m just helping to show you the real you.”_

Frisk held her head and cried out in pain. She desperately wished for the voice to go away and stop telling her horrible things—even if they were true.

“My child. I want to help you. Please. Please, just tell me what’s wrong. Was it something at school? Was it something I did? Was it something the others did?” Toriel’s soft voice called out, cutting into Frisk’s thoughts.

Frisk didn’t respond. She couldn’t…and for the rest of the night, refused to acknowledge anyone else.

\--

As much as Toriel tried, she eventually broke down and had to go to sleep, or mourn her child’s predicament—Frisk couldn’t tell. She left the room and was replaced by Undyne, who ranted the entire time, telling Frisk not to be a coward and just tell the warrior what was wrong. She threatened to beat up anyone who had been messing with her, or to be a shoulder to cry on.

Frisk still refused to reply, and could still not sleep, trying to fight Chara’s voice in her head. With every sinister word from the voice, Frisk began to feel like Chara was right, maybe this was really her—maybe she always wanted that carnage in her heart, and she just tried to bury it. But then what did all the friendships and family she had meant? Were those merely toys for her to play with until she grew bored?

Hours of Undyne talking to try to calm Frisk and down and get the truth of the matter out of her yielded nothing, and even her determination couldn’t breach Frisk.

Finally she gave up, too tired to continue, or maybe emotionally exhausted. The sun had long since set when Papyrus took her place and did his best to rouse Frisk and cheer her up. Frisk had been sitting up at this point, staring at her comforter blankly, not enough strength to emote, but not willing to fall asleep again. She hadn’t eaten in so long, but her stomach did not feel hunger, just pain.

“Human-Frisk!” His voice was hopeful and sweet, like he was trying to ignore everything that happened earlier. “I, the Great Papyrus…um, just want you to know that I am here for you, as your cool best friend, and…oh, it’s going to be ok! I just know it. You just have to hold on, human. And—and you can always talk to me, or even Sans! I’m sure he would love it if you talked to him. But-but talk to me first, since we are besties!”

Frisk made no reply, and did not move; content to stare at her bedspread. She could hear Chara laughing manically as she whispered terrible things into the small human’s head.

“But, the others told me how tired and worn out you look, so I brought a book to read to you!” Papyrus rustled something behind his back and produced a small picture book. “It’s called, ‘Fluffy Bunny Goes to Sleep.’” Papyrus’ voice softened from his usual loud tone. “I have many books in this series, and Sans always reads them to me when I ask, even if he’s too tired. I thought I’d do the same for you as well, since it always helped me fall asleep, even if I wasn’t sleepy.”

Frisk stiffened when the tall skeleton mentioned his brother. She felt her hands itch, uncomfortable from not having a blade to grasp. Or maybe she was just finally caving in, and was ready to tell Papyrus.

No, he wouldn’t understand. He’d be crushed if he found out how she dreamed of murdering him, of crushing his skull under her foot, or feeling sweet satisfaction from the loss of hope in his eyes when she tore into him with her knife.

“’Fluffy Bunny was tired, and had to go to bed.’” Papyrus read out loud to Frisk. “’But he didn’t want to go to bed, so he went to his brother and asked him to play…’”

Papyrus’ words echoed from some far off place as Chara continued to rattle in Frisk’s head.

_“Don’t think I didn’t notice just now…how much you wanted to stab him.”_ She giggled. _“I’m actually glad. Let’s do it together, Frisk.”_

Frisk shook her head ever so slightly. No. No she wouldn’t. She couldn’t do that. Papyrus was so sweet, he didn’t deserve that. Plus…Sans. If she killed his brother again, who knew what he’d do to her?

_“Then let’s kill them both. Problem solved!”_

No, they’d be stopped by everyone in the house. Sans would know. He would always know. The shorter skeleton would stop her, and he would torture her again, beating and breaking and blasting and burning her until she begged for death. And even then, he would just sneer at her and continue on, delighting in her suffering.

_“…So what? Then we just reset.”_

Reset? Could Frisk still do that?

_“Of course. You always had that power. I was able to use it in you before, until…well, like it matters. **You** can use it; you can even take us back to the Underground, if you wanted.”_

Could Frisk really? She could go back to before all this happened…Before screwing it up with her own damn weakness.

_“Sure, why not! Then we could really have some **fun**.”_

Maybe…maybe she could…what if…she went back and killed everyone, just to get it out of her system? Then she could just reset, and it would all be out, and she could befriend everyone again and everything would be fine and no one would know!

No…no…that was horrible. Frisk couldn’t let herself take away her family’s happy ending just because she was a monster. There had to be another way. If only she could be out of the picture…

A snore caught her attention and her head snapped over to Papyrus. He had fallen asleep, slumped over in his chair, the book he brought sitting against his ribs. Frisk’s eyes widened. He wasn’t watching her anymore. No one was. Maybe they were even asleep in their own rooms.

Hope, or maybe madness, set in and Frisk slowly and softly got up from her bed, padding along the floor over to Papyrus. She checked to see if he really was asleep, and then opened the door to her room, softly creeping out into the hallway. Glancing over at Toriel and Sans’ rooms, she paused, listening for any movement or signs of them being awake. There was nothing and so she crept over to the living room, glancing at Undyne and Alphys, who were cuddled together on the pull-out couch. Alphys stirred slightly as Frisk made her way over to the kitchen, drawn to a certain sharp tool. Her heart hammered in her chest; she was relieved when Alphys did not wake, but merely rolled over, snoozing soundly.

Continuing, realizing exactly what was drawing her in, but not wanting to fight it, she stepped into the kitchen and looked over to where it was usually kept. The knife was not there. Someone, Toriel probably, must have hidden it from her.

_“It’s up there.”_

Chara’s voice stirred from within Frisk and she looked up above the refrigerator. It was there, the tip barely poking off the edge. Filled with desire, Frisk pulled a chair from the kitchen table over as quietly as she could to stand on and reach the blade.

As soon as the blade was in her hand, she shuddered, an awful bliss filling her. She looked at her hands, clean for once, and not covered in blood and dust. Then she looked at her wrists.

Just one slit…she could bleed out and everyone would be free of her.

_“Wait…what are you doing?”_

Chara’s voice thundered in her head as Frisk stared at her veins, trying to control herself, her breathing becoming ragged and her vision fading in and out.

_“Don’t you dare do it!”_

She had died many times already, what did it matter anymore? This way…she could remove herself from their lives…she could stop causing them pain…they could stop worrying about her, stop devoting so much of their precious time to her, stop wasting their life protecting her. Maybe they would be happier that way.

The blade touched her wrist and she held back a cry of pain. It hurt. It hurt so much. She couldn’t do it. Not this way. It was too painful. She thought of how horrible it would be if they woke up and saw her body, bled out, laying on the floor. It would hurt them, she realized.

_“Good. You can’t quit, Frisk. We have so much better things to do.”_

There was another way though, Frisk decided, as she tip-toed back to her room. She slipped past Papyrus, who was still asleep in the chair, and went to her closet to pull out her backpack. Pulling out her schoolbooks and papers, she shoved them into her closet, hiding them away in the back. She dropped the knife into a side pocket, grabbed whatever allowance she had saved up, and threw some clothes into the bag, not caring if they were wrinkled or not. She worked quickly, not knowing if someone, like Sans, was awake or not. She slipped back into the kitchen and shoved as many snacks and granola bars and canned foods as she could fit before zipping it up.

_“This is stupid. You can’t run away from how you really feel, Frisk.”_

Frisk ignored Chara, but felt pained as usual, the hallucinations beginning to set back in. She had to go. She had to leave her family and friends. She was losing it, from her battle with Chara, to her battle with herself—sooner or later, she was going to end up hurting her loved ones again…maybe even killing them. She couldn’t deal with that. She couldn’t.

_“Then reset. This is really dumb. You’re going to get us both killed out there.”_

Frisk didn’t care. One way or another, she had to be removed from the picture.

Her hand on the handle to the front door, she paused, almost waiting for Sans to appear in front of her, but he didn’t, much to her relief. She took a breath, peering around the house one last time before opening the door and stepping out into the cool air.

She began to walk away from the house, fresh tears falling from her face. She would really miss everyone so much, but told herself it was for the best. Biting her lip, she broke out into a run. The sun would be up soon, and she didn’t want to be out in the light when the others woke up. A pang of guilt rose up in her as she realized the others would probably be mad at Papyrus for falling asleep, but she knew Sans would be there for him. Nothing his brother did ever bothered him, so it would be ok.

A destination rose up in Frisk’s mind as she started to run. There was a bus in the city she could take; she could ride it and take it to the next city and think of what to do from there. That was what she decided to do, as she ran, filled with determination.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

For a while now, Sans had noticed something was wrong with Frisk. Sometimes at night he would hear her whimper in her sleep; never saying words, but always crying out softly. Sans was not one to sleep easily at night, and when she made those horrible, sad noises, slumber was out of the question. As much as he wanted to go and comfort her, part of him resisted, knowing that if he went to confront her about her dreams he would be making himself vulnerable at the same time; he would have to talk about heavy emotional matters. The skeleton couldn't bring himself to do that. It just wasn't him. So he stayed in bed, night after night, willing Frisk to solve it herself, yet listening to her cries, not willing to do anything.

At first it was fairly tolerable. The kid seemed not to even realize she was having nightmares; Sans couldn't see a single bit of hesitance or sadness in her demeanor and she treated everyone no different than before. But it still bothered him greatly. Had he not made a promise to Toriel to protect the child? Wasn't comforting her emotional state and getting to the bottom of whatever made her unhappy part of the promise as well? And in any case, what unhappiness would she have that would cause her to have nightmares in the first place? She had no memories prior to her latest reset, and her current ones had been filled to the brim with happiness from all of her new family. And while they had been in the underground, Sans had made it so that no harm came to her during her journey. So there was no reason for her to have had a bad time.

Unless…

A sickening thought crossed his mind one night while he lay in bed listening to the little human whimper in her sleep. The timeline before...she had been possessed by a monster, Chara. That vile creature had made the poor kid murder everything that crossed her path, no matter how innocent, _even Sans' own brother._ At least, Frisk probably didn't do it on her own accord. The kid had been too pure and kindly for that two timelines ago. He grit his teeth, grin faltering ever so slightly. He remembered how distraught and downright _horrified_ she had been when Chara had left her body, how she writhed and screamed and begged for forgiveness from the skeleton. Of course, that had been mostly his fault; he was the one who broke and beat her during their fight. But the rest of her reaction; Sans knew it was because she had watched herself commit terrible atrocities, enough to leave any child emotionally scarred for the rest of their life.

So if she started to remember those terrible things…

Sans felt crushed. No, Frisk was too good of a kid to have to remember such awful things. A pang of guilt ran through him, knowing full well that she had every chance of remembering what _he_ did to _her._ If she showed that same kind of fear and anguish about him again—he knew he wouldn't be able to take it. He told himself that no, she would _not_ remember.

But the next day, Frisk was fine as she came out of her room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her face lit up into a smile when she saw Sans and Papyrus sitting on the couch, the shorter skeleton flipping lazily through the channels on the TV. Sans' had felt elated when she sat down next to him and his brother, giggling as she joined them. The three had played for hours while Toriel was out of the house running some errands, and when Papyrus and Frisk fell asleep on top of him, Sans was filled with such a sense of peace and happiness. This was his _family._ And everything was right with the world.

The nights after, however, her whimpering had grown louder, more desperate. She would wake suddenly, gasping for air, Sans remembered, which was different from the previous times she had nightmares—usually she wouldn't wake, but the sounds would disappear on their own. What was weirder, was that one night, she had even gotten out of bed and gone to Toriel's room, but at the time, Sans figured it was for the best—the child seeking comfort from her mother. Surely that was a sign she was going to get better?

He couldn't be more wrong when he saw her in the morning. She looked like she did every day, but something just seemed _off_ about her. Sans couldn't place it, but the more he tried to figure out what it was, the more out of reach it seemed. He acted like he always did, maybe whatever it was would sort itself out without his involvement.

As he and Papyrus were getting ready to go to the zoo, he noticed the pouting look on Frisk's face and held back a chuckle. The kid was jealous it seemed. It filled the short skeleton with a warm feeling and he consoled the small human, letting her know that they would go together one day. It seemed to appease her, and Sans smiled, satisfied.

* * *

That nagging feeling returned full force when he was awoken sometime later that day by Papyrus calling for him to answer the phone.

"…I want to keep telling the human about my day! So can you please get that?" Papyrus called.

Sans got up yawning, more than happy to oblige his brother, even if it meant not being lazy. He caught a look at the kid and almost faltered on the way to the phone. Was that… _fear_ in her eyes? Why? What could she have possibly been afraid of? What had happened in the few hours since he had seen her in the morning?

"Hello?" Yawning, Sans answered the phone, wondering who would be calling a monster household.

"Ah, y-yes. Hello. This is the principal at Frisk's school. Am I talking to, uh, one of her, ahem, guardians?" The voice on the other end spoke, seeming unsure of their words.

"Oh, Frisk? Yeah I'm one of her legal guardians, Sans. Sans the skeleton." Sans felt slightly bemused at how the tone of the caller went, as if they were afraid to speak to him.

"Well, I just wanted to call you and let you know that Frisk had an episode today in class. Apparently, she fell asleep and then screamed and scared everyone in her class. She didn't show up to any of her classes afterwards."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, and I was just calling to make sure everything is ok at home. Has anything happened recently with Frisk?

"No, I haven't noticed anything. We're actually about to sit down to dinner. "Sans glanced up at Frisk, who appeared to be more pale than usual. Uncertainty rose up in the skeleton. He didn't want this phone call to continue; he didn't want something to be wrong with Frisk. _He didn't want someone else insinuating Frisk was not ok._

"Oh, ok. I just wanted to make sure. Sorry for bothering you."

"No, no, thank you for your call. We'll keep an eye-socket out for her. Ok. Thanks." Sans hung up the phone as gently as possible, not wanting to alert anyone to how much turmoil he was feeling at the moment. He walked back over to the couch, his mind reeling. What did she see that was so bad it woke her up _screaming_? Had he had a stomach, it would have been turning violently with anxiety. Out of the corner of his eye-socket, he saw Frisk glance at him worriedly. Sans kept a level expression, not letting his ever-present grin falter. Did she know what the phone call had been about? Had she been expecting or dreading it this whole time? For a moment, he considered telling Toriel about it, but relented. She didn't need the added stress of knowing her daughter was distraught. Papyrus interrupted his thoughts to ask about the phone call, and Sans answered him with a pun; humor was the best way to hide what he was thinking. He didn't want to kid to think he was upset by her behavior—or the call. The aloof way she was acting led him to believe that if he pursued it vehemently, she would merely clam up and not talk to him.

He snapped to attention when he noticed how she avoided Toriel's gaze. That wasn't like her at all. He watched her, noticing how twitchy and jumpy she was, if only a little bit. He doubted Toriel or Papyrus would have noticed. As he watched Frisk scurry off to go and set the table like Toriel asked, he leaned his head back and sighed. This was bothering him too much. He needed to talk to her, to either confirm or refute her behavior. His skeletal hand rubbed the front of his skull; he was not looking forward to trying to draw the truth out of the kid.

* * *

"Hey kiddo, walk with me for a bit, will ya?" Sans called out as Frisk tried to make a beeline to her room, as he thought she would. She froze, and tension rose up within the skeleton. She was acting so fearful, _so guilty._ It looked like she was struggling to form words, but then closed her mouth, seeming defeated, and then nodded. Sans nodded over to the front door; the conversation he wanted to have with her would be better served out of earshot from the other two.

Making himself comfortable on the front porch set, he let out a sigh, trying to figure out what exactly he would say to the small child. The door opened and Sans patted the spot next to him, not wanting to look at what was certainly a fearful expression worn by the little girl. She sat down next to him, not too close, and yet Sans could feel her body heat radiate off of her in the cool air. Finally after a while, he decided to speak.

"So, kiddo, how are you?" His tone came out a lot harder than he meant it too, but kept his grin up, never faltering. She glanced up at him briefly before turning away and shrugging, giving him an obvious lie for an answer: that she was just tired, but fine otherwise. Sans twitched, knowing that it would turn out like this. The kid was a lot like him, never wanting to admit defeat or the fact they were hurting.

"So I heard." Sans sighed, irritated that she just wouldn't just admit it. "Your school called, you know." Now she couldn't escape. He noticed her stiffen. 'Bingo.' He thought to himself and gave her another push. "They said you fell asleep in class and then woke up screaming, then left school without permission for the rest of the day. So if that's your idea of 'ok,' kid, I'd like to tell you that it's not."

Her eyes rose to meet his and he almost wished she hadn't. There was something unreadable in her expression—was it fear? Anxiety? Or something more sinister? Reflexively he put a skeletal hand on her shoulder, and she seemed to relax a bit.

"Look, uh, kid. You mean a lot to us—me, Pap, and Tori. If there's something wrong, tell us, ok?" He felt like such a hypocrite right then. It's not like _he_ ever told anyone, not even Papyrus when he was feeling bad. Those were his feelings to keep inside. He pushed his insecurities aside. This was about Frisk, not him. _He_ wasn't the one waking up screaming from nightmares, at least, not today. "I mean, you've been acting off since you got home." Sans continued, hoping to get some truth out of the kid. But she had looked away at this point, trying to look preoccupied with a piece of fabric on her sleeve. Sans felt his teeth grind ever so slightly.

"Frisk." He let out an audible sigh, trying to not get frustrated as he massaged the back of his skull, running his fingers along his spinal vertebra. "I know that you don't want to listen to this, but, uh, try not to suffer in silence" just like he did, "ok? I mean, you and I can have this talk, or you and Tori can have this talk." He was slowly adding some pressure, but trying not to be so forceful. He heard her ask if he was really going to tell her mother, her tone soft and compliant. Maybe she was ready to talk.

"Nah kiddo. If you talk to me, and tell me what's wrong, we can just keep this between us." Sans saw the hopeful look in her eyes return and he grinned as she opened her mouth to speak, but as she fed him something about her dream being of her not having pants in class, he felt a sense of anguish rise within him. So she really wouldn't talk. He began to think it was something serious, but he saw the look on her face, one that told him she was done with the conversation; he knew that any more pushing would close her off completely.

"No pants, huh?" he leaned back and relaxed his features. "Ok, kiddo, I'll believe you." But he didn't. Very quietly he whispered, "I _want_ to believe you, kid," before cracking some puns to lighten the mood. She always seemed to look brighter and happier when he was in "Comical Sans" mode, so he put on an act for her, but this time she looked stunned, like she hadn't expected it, _like she didn't want it_. And he grimaced as he saw that look in her eye once again, that small but sinister twinkling in her eyes. That was…not good. But he blew it off and made light of the situation, rubbing the back of his skull in a sheepish manner.

"Geez, kiddo, you're supposed to laugh at my jokes, you know." Sans eyed her as she snapped back to herself and let out a giggle. He grinned in spite of himself. _That_ was the little girl he knew. He put a hand on her head and gave her a pat affectionately. He held out his arms, wanting to end this conversation on a good note. "C'mere kid."

Sans felt Frisk fall into his arms and return the hug. Sans was always stunned at how small and warm the little child was. For as much as he had been told how fearsome humans were, Frisk didn't seem so; the little one was delicate and sweet. But he remembered that even though she was so fragile, she was capable of terrible things too. He held back a shudder as he recalled her twisted expressions, her aggression, her _determination to kill him_ in the Judgement Hall, a memory that seemed so far away now. A wave of protectiveness overcame him and he held her a little tighter, almost unwilling to let her go. There was no way he would let her go back to that.

"Just remember, kid. I'm here for you if you need it. We all are."

He heard her let out a contented sigh, and he grinned even wider, if that was possible. Frisk pulled away from Sans and smiled up at him warmly. She looked a lot better, and Sans was slightly more reassured now that things would be ok.

"Ok kiddo, time for this guy to hit the hay. I'm _bone_ tired." He extended a skeletal hand to the young girl as he got up, and she obliged, rising to meet him. Sans joked with her a bit more, receiving a playful slap on his arm, and chuckled as they both walked back inside. He watched as Frisk hugged Papyrus and Toriel goodnight, then coming back around to give him a hug, nearly knocking him down as she tackled him. Sans returned the hug, telling her goodnight and watched her go to her room for the night, hoping she would have nothing but sweet dreams.

"What did you guys talk about?" Toriel asked him, an eyebrow raised. "She didn't seem so reserved just now."

"Oh, uh, heh, just made a few jokes, you _pun_ derstand how kids are." Sans winked at Toriel and Papyrus, the latter of which shook his skull dismissively. "It was nothing, really Tori." He added after she shot him a disbelieving look.

She sighed and returned to cleaning the kitchen.

"Well, if that's all it was, then good." She smiled over at him. "Thank you, Sans. She really looks up to you, you know."

Sans would have blushed if he could, and he rubbed the back of his skull sheepishly. That meant a lot to him; after all, Frisk was like a…daughter? Little sister? Niece? He couldn't put a name to it, but she was sort of like all those things rolled into one.

"But remember, brother, she and I, the Great Papyrus, are best friends. Be sure to remember that!" Papyrus interjected, earning a chuckle from his brother who nodded in understanding. "Goodnight, Sans!" Papyrus picked his brother up, giving him a hug, before retiring to his own room to sleep.

Sans smiled, watching his brother go. He turned to Toriel, who was drying the last of the dishes.

"Well, I'm off to bed, Tori, goodni—"

"Sans." Her voice was quiet and low. Sans froze. "Did Frisk seem…afraid of me a while ago?"

Sans voice caught in his throat; he didn't know what to say. 'So she noticed it too.'

"I mean, she was just so, _apprehensive_ of me. And then you two talked, and then she was all better. Did something happen at school today?" She rounded on him, eyes locked into his, probing him for answers.

"Heh. I told you earlier, it was nothing, really. You're overthinking things, Tor." Sans shrugged, and shook his head dismissively. No need to get Toriel all worked up and anxious, though Sans did feel a pang of guilt for hiding the phone call from the mother. Toriel sighed in response.

"Alright, I trust you." She strode over to him and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you Sans, and goodnight. Try to go to sleep at a decent hour this time, ok?"

Sans nodded his head and watched Toriel leave for her room. When she was out of eyesight, he plopped himself on the couch, heaving a sigh.

'Kiddo, you better not get any worse.'

* * *

Morning came and Sans was already sitting at the kitchen table when Papyrus and Toriel walked into the kitchen. He waved a good morning as his brother came over to him, eager to start his day.

"It would seem Frisk hasn't gotten up yet!" Papyrus observed, his skull sweeping from side to side, looking for the little human. Sans had been sitting there preemptively so he could confront Frisk if she had had another nightmare that night. He felt his eye-socket twitch, realizing the kid was late getting up.

"Oh, is that so?" Toriel called out. "Silly child. Papyrus, if you wouldn't mind, would you go and wake her up?"

"Of course! The Human-Frisk will have the greatest wake-up call she's ever had!" Papyrus raced off to the little girl's room laughing to himself.

Sans could hear him knock politely on the door and grinned. His brother really was the best, most thoughtful brother ever.

"So what do you think we should have for breakfast, Sans?" Toriel called over as she rifled through the pantry of food. "An _egg_ citing breakfast? An _eggs_ tremely delicious one?" She giggled, eyeing the short skeleton with mirth.

"I dunno, Tori, uh, sounds like you know _eggs_ actly what you want to make." Sans grinned at her, jawbone resting on his hand as he joked back.

"Eggs it is then!" Toriel laughed, gathering the ingredients together. "So what e—"

She was abruptly cut off by a scream coming from Frisk's bedroom. Both Toriel and Sans shot each other a look before tearing down the hallway to go inspect what was wrong. Sans had a very bad feeling and felt every part of him tense up, his bones softly rattling with anxiety.

He peered into the room and Frisk looked like she had seen a ghost as she stared up at Papyrus, white as a sheet. Then, her eyes seemed to focus, and she calmed down a little bit. Papyrus had a hand on her head, looking incredibly worried, eye-sockets darting from the little girl to Sans and Toriel. Frisk smiled, and Sans heard her tell him that he merely startled her.

'Yeah, right.' Sans thought to himself when he saw the grimace she made when the small human looked over at the short skeleton.

"You ok, kiddo?" He knew she would lie to him, but asked anyway. Toriel strode over to her daughter, looking concerned.

"My child, are you feeling unwell? You have bags under your eyes; did you not sleep well last night?"

Sans wasn't sure if the others noticed, but that sinister glimmer was there again as Frisk looked up at Toriel, pretending to smile. Sans knew the others couldn't tell she was putting on a façade, but he certainly could, but had no time to rebuff her claims of 'being ok' before they were all cast out of her room, with Frisk claiming she needed to get ready for school.

Standing outside her room, Sans was overcome with a feeling of dread. She had another nightmare, hadn't she? What had she seen? What had been so bad that the sight of Papyrus made her shriek like that? And furthermore, was it so bad as to make her scowl at the sight of Sans?

A horrible thought crossed his mind. What if she was remembering the timeline when she was possessed by Chara? What if all of those horrible memories had been slowly coming back to her and this was her way of trying to fight it? Did she even realize what she was seeing?

No, Sans told himself. If she was remembering those terrible deeds, wouldn't she be acting more miserable? Wouldn't she be feeling so horrible she'd be crying and screaming out? He didn't think she was very good at hiding her feelings, at least, not like him. Sans hid nearly everything from everyone. Rarely would he tell Toriel that he felt off, and he would never think to talk to Papyrus about those deeply emotional things. His brother didn't need to know the turmoil Sans felt, the things Sans had seen, the things Sans had _done._ But, he just felt so…unsettled all of a sudden.

He needed a drink.

He needed to think.

He watched as Frisk and Toriel departed to their respective schools and sat down on the couch as Papyrus got ready for his work.

"Hey, bro?" Sans called out, unsure. He didn't know what he was asking.

"Yes? What is it Sans?" Papyrus turned to look at his brother as he fixed his scarf.

"I…have you…uh, does Frisk seem, ok to you?" Sans tried not to make his voice seem so shaky. Hopefully Papyrus wouldn't notice. Maybe Frisk's behavior was all in Sans' head; maybe he was just being overly sensitive.

"Hmmm…" Papyrus rubbed his jawbone, deep in thought. "Well, the human seemed genuinely shocked this morning." He squinted his eye-sockets momentarily. "But that is only because she was not expecting such a great wake-up call by me, the Great Papyrus! Nyeh heh heh!"

Sans chuckled warmly, grateful that Papyrus hadn't noticed anything. Sans would keep it that way, if he had anything to do with it.

* * *

"So, I wanted to talk to you both about Frisk." Toriel's voice was low and concerned. She sat across the table and eyed the two brothers warily. She had taken them out to dinner when Alphys had texted them that she and Undyne were going to pick Frisk up from school and take her home. It was nice to go out, even if it was with the two skeleton brothers, and even though it was at Grillby's surface location. But Toriel had other plans than just a simple evening out, Sans realized.

Sans nearly spit out his mouthful of ketchup when he heard Toriel's statement. He hid a grimace; hadn't he convinced Toriel there was nothing to worry about?

"What about the human-Frisk?" Papyrus asked curiously, tilting his skull to the side. "They have been the same as always."

"Yeah, Tori. I haven't really noticed anything." Sans backed up his brother, hoping this conversation would be dropped sooner than later.

"It's just…" Toriel paused and Sans could feel the anticipation welling up inside of him. He didn't want to keep lying to Toriel, but he really didn't want her to find out that, yes, Frisk was slowly losing it. Not even Sans wanted to admit it; he really couldn't deal with it. "I don't think she's been sleeping well lately. I feel like there's something weighing heavily on her."

Sans felt his bones creaking.

"Maybe something really bad happened, and she's struggling with how to deal with it." Toriel continued.

"So! What you're saying is…" Papyrus rubbed his jawbone thoughtfully as he nodded along with Toriel. "Is that she's super stressed from her human-school and we should do something nice for her to take the stress off."

Toriel and Sans gave him blank looks, Sans more flabbergasted that that was the conclusion he came to, but decided to go with it, letting his brother do all the talking.

"It has been a while since all of us have gone out to do a fun activity. I mean, Sans and I just got back from the zoo, but that's all we've done in a long time." Papyrus continued, sounding hopeful. He snapped his head over to Sans. "Brother! You told the human that we could all go to the zoo soon!" He whirled around to face Toriel, who looked taken aback. "That's what we should do! She needs a vacation! Something to distract her from that school of hers!" Papyrus folded his arms, looking smug at his great idea.

"Uh…It's a lovely idea." Toriel started out slowly. Then she looked over in the distance, thinking things over carefully. "Very well, Papyrus." She smiled at the taller skeleton, who clapped his gloved hands together with joy and anticipation. "How about tomorrow we all go to the zoo? I'll text Alphys and Undyne and let them know; they can come to." Toriel wore a giant grin on her face, listening to Papyrus rattle off what a good idea it was, how much Frisk was going to love it, how much fun they would all have.

Sans leaned onto his hand, listening to his brother go on. It was enough to make him hopeful that maybe all the little girl needed was a little break from her everyday life. Yeah, he could believe that.

He wanted to believe that.

* * *

Sans and the other two hadn't gotten home too late that night, and all three were surprised to find Frisk already asleep. It was unusual in the fact that she would usually wait up for them to at least tell them goodnight. Toriel and Papyrus brushed it off as Frisk being too tired from playing with Alphys and Undyne, but Sans knew better.

That had been unlike her.

Sans had trouble going to sleep late that night, listening to the whimpers of the little girl. Tomorrow he would confront her, earnestly. He made up his mind. No façade was worth the little one getting so worn out and desperate. He would get to the bottom of things, and if it had been that Frisk was remembering all the terrible things she had done, he would be there for her, to comfort her, to let her know that it wasn't her fault.

And then dread consumed him as the worst possible thought entered his mind.

What if Chara was never destroyed?

What if that creature was trying to retake control over Frisk?

What if Chara was whispering terrible things to Frisk, poisoning her mind?

Sans shuddered, remembering how awful fighting the little bastard had been, how disgusting it had been, undulating out of little Frisk like the most grotesque parasite. He didn't want to believe it; it wasn't like he had proof, just suspicions. Sans tried to push the thought away, telling himself that Frisk was still ok, her behavior wasn't extreme. She wasn't trying to kill anyone yet, she wasn't screaming at the sight of the skeleton, so she must have been at least somewhat ok still. Maybe Sans could circumvent any more trauma before things got really bad.

Before he knew it, the sun had already risen and Toriel and Papyrus were up making breakfast like usual, the aroma of their cooking wafting through the house was surprisingly spaghetti-less. He groaned as he got up from his bed, feeling a little bit stiff in his joints, feeling anxious at the thought of confronting Frisk about everything.

Lazily shuffling his feet into his socks and slippers, he made his way over to his door, opening it and then leaving his room. As he strode down the hallway to the living room, he stopped in front of Frisk's door. It was closed.

So that was the second day in a row that she had slept in. Sans eyed it wearily, contemplating knocking on it to wake her up, but then decided to let it go. He would talk to her soon enough. He walked toward the kitchen, letting out a yawn, realizing he was still a little bit tired. Smelling the aroma of food from the kitchen, Sans had to grin; Papyrus was getting better at cooking each day he working with Toriel. Soon he'd be making five-star meals. Sans could hope for that.

The front door opened and he turned in time to see Undyne and Alphys come in, the former looking incredibly excited and fist-bumping Papyrus as she greeted everyone in the room with a large toothy smile.

"Hey! Where's the punk at anyway?" Undyne spoke aloud, looking around the room.

"The human is still sleeping, and shhhh," Papyrus spoke with a faux whisper. "She doesn't know what we have planned yet." Giddiness played in his voice and Sans cracked a wide grin with how happy his brother was. "But she will soon, and then she will rue the day she decided to sleep in! Nyeh heh!"

Sans was struck by how worried and preoccupied Alphys was, sure she was mousy most of the time, but her demeanor was different. The shorter skeleton wondered if it had anything to do with the night before, when Frisk, Undyne, and Alphys hung out.

Shrugging it off, Sans heard a door open and close; his eyes darted over to the bathroom. So the kid was up finally. As he was about to turn around and go sit on the couch, he heard a loud noise from the bathroom and he nonchalantly walked over—it seemed he was the only one in the house to notice, as Undyne, Papyrus, and Toriel wandered off into the kitchen, leaving Alphys to make herself at home on the couch.

"Hey kiddo, you ok?" Sans called out softly from outside the bathroom.

He heard shuffling from inside and then Frisk's small voice, cracking and hoarse, call out that she was fine, just that she tripped. Sans could believe that she tripped, but she didn't sound fine. She sounded horrible. Sans was taken aback. He heard how she tried to laugh it all off, but failed. He tried to speak, to tell her that he didn't believe her, to refute that she was ok, but he couldn't. His voice caught and he couldn't deal with it.

"Ok…kid. Just hurry it up, will ya? We've got quite the feast happening here, y'know?" Sans wanted to kick himself. Where was all that determination he had from earlier about confronting the kid? He would have scowled if he could as he made his way over to the couch, forgetting Alphys was there. Her small voice startled him when she spoke up.

"O-oh, hey Sans. Was e-everything ok with F-frisk?" She looked over at him, eyes peering over her glasses, looking nervous as always.

"Yeah, uh, everything was fine." Sans gave her a reassuring grin, not wanting to drag her into the situation.

"Yeah. O-ok." She replied quietly.

Sans closed his eye-sockets and leaned his head back, about to take a quick nap until Frisk got out.

"It-it's just…" Alphys continued, even softer, looking over at the skeleton. Sans opened an eye-socket and looked down at her, feeling his pupils disappear as he listened to her continue. "She seemed…off…yesterday. When we picked her up…yeah. When we p-picked her up." She caught his eye-sockets and grimaced. "B-but it was probably nothing." She nervously scratched the back of her head as Sans felt his gaze intensify.

"Why do you mention it?" Sans flatly asked, maybe more intense than he meant it. He watched the scaly scientist fidget uselessly as she glanced back up at him.

"She just seemed lost…l-like she was afraid of e-everything. Wh-when we found her on the side of the road—"

" _ **What.**_ " Sans nearly growled as he rounded on Alphys, his left eye automatically glowing a blue color. She slapped her hands to her mouth reflexively. " _ **I didn't quite catch that. Do ya mind repeating that?**_ "

"P-please don't tell Toriel!" She whispered out hoarsely. "I told Frisk I wouldn't tell her mother!"

Sans said nothing, but felt his teeth grinding together a little too loudly, rattling his skull as he began to seethe. Alphys saw the look on his face and spat out more words, terrified.

"W-we picked her up s-since she was skipping s-school, and s-she just looked so terrible a-and I didn't know what to d-do, so we t-took her home and we watched anime, a-and she didn't act right the entire time, a-and I tried to ask what was wrong, but she just had this d-distant look in her eyes, and sh-she was just so j-jumpy a-and—" Alphys was immediately cut off by Undyne, who broke off Sans' gaze as she plopped in between them, laughing with glee.

"Man oh man! Toriel cracks me up! 'Undyne, stop setting things on fire!' Gah! She's hilarious—did I interrupt something?" Undyne's eyes shifted from Sans to Alphys, slightly unsettled.

"Nah, we were just talking. But, uh, hey, sounds like Toriel's got you _fired up_." Sans winked at Undyne, who stared at him for a second, then grins and slapped him on the shoulder. "Ow." Sans coughed out, feeling his body still rattling from the force. He was lucky she didn't slap his shoulder clean off with her brute strength. But Sans was slightly grateful for her interruption. He had heard all he needed from Alphys; more of the family was starting to notice how odd Frisk was behaving. He was aghast that the kid would go so far as to skip school. As much as he wanted to keep contemplating things, he began to feel himself starting to nod off; maybe he would sleep this all off until he could talk to Frisk one-on-one.

"Hey punk! Good morn—whoa, you look like crud!" Undyne shouted out, interrupting Sans, yet again.

He cracked open an eye-socket and turned to look at the child, freezing in place. She looked so horrible, from her puffy eyes (had she been crying?), to her slumped shoulders, she was a mess—and no amount of bathing or clean clothes would hide that from Sans. He noticed right away how incredibly sleep-deprived she looked.

"H-hey Frisk, good morning. A-are your knees f-feeling better?" Alphys called out softly.

Sans eyes snapped from Alphys over to Frisk who looked absolutely miserable. She had hurt herself yesterday? What happened to her? Was it a kid at school? Was it Undyne or Alphys that caused it? Did Frisk do it to herself? Sans was about to react when he heard her tired, creaking voice try to assert that she was fine, but Papyrus had already scooped her up into a hug.

"What's this? Human, you are hurt? Why didn't you say anything? Toriel, can't you fix her?" He called out, who was hurrying over, full of concern.

Sans couldn't hear anything. All he could do was focus on not losing it right then and there and demanding an explanation from Frisk. He watched her squirm and look positively _terrified_ of both his brother and Toriel. He saw her scabbed knees and flinched, wanting to help the child, but relenting after Toriel began to heal Frisk with her magic.

Why hadn't she told anyone?

Why was she skipping school?

Why wasn't she sleeping at night?

Why was she crying at night?

_Why was she looking at him with a look of fear and disgust?_

He came out of his thoughts when he heard Papyrus propose going to the zoo. Sans was earnestly surprised that Frisk was willing to say yes, but then he saw the same sinister glimmer in her eye he had seen just a couple of days ago and cringed, realizing it was hatred. What was going on? That wasn't Frisk just now…was it? He felt shattered just then, but tried to hold it in. Did she remember how he had hurt her, nearly killing her in the previous timeline? Was that why she kept on looking at him like that? Because she hated him for murdering her repeatedly?

"—making a wonderful breakfast today. It's going to be _egg_ cellent." Toriel announced, rousing Sans out of his funk just in time to give her a grin of approval as his brother groaned in the background. "We're almost done, so why don't you and Sans set the table for everyone?" Sans watched as Toriel leaned down and gave her daughter a hug, before departing to the kitchen with Papyrus following her.

The shorter skeleton noticed how hard Frisk was trying to avoid eye contact with him and Sans' eternal grin nearly faltered. This was getting really serious.

"C'mon kiddo." He called out, not even trying to mask his suspicion anymore.

* * *

Sans could feel something build up as they rode in the minivan together, on their way to the zoo. Frisk was being more dodgy, her eyes darting from everyone in the car over to nothingness, trying to pretend like everything was normal. Sans had noticed it when she slapped at herself, almost as if there had been something on her, as Papyrus leaned over the seat to talk to her.

It all went downhill so fast when Frisk started to breathe loudly, her breaths coming out in short quick paces as her eyes swiveled around, as if she saw something and was perpetually trying to avert her eyes.

"Whoa, are you sure you're feeling okay?" Undyne called out.

"What's wrong?" Alphys' voice soon followed, dripping with worry.

"My child, your face is red, are you quite alright?" Toriel asked, putting a large hand to her daughter's forehead.

Sans let out a small gasp when he heard Frisk whimper. Something was wrong. He began to panic. She was starting to shake, tears formed in her eyes, and she bit her lip hard, trying not to cry.

The car came to a stop at a light.

"Punk, whoa, don't cry—"

"I-is everything a-alright back there—"

"Human-Frisk! Why are you breathing like that—"

"Little one, please tell me what's wrong—"

Sans mind raced, and all he could think about was that dark shadow, Chara, taking control of the little one's body, making her see terrible things, making her go through all of this. It was too much to bear and he snapped, filled with a rage. Frisk did this to herself by not letting him help when he gave her the chance.

" **Sounds like you're having a bad time, kiddo.** "

Frisk wheeled around to face him, and then immediately lost it, letting out a horrible shriek as she ripped her seatbelt out of its' buckle and tore open the door, leaping out of the minivan, which had already started to move. She slammed into the ground hard, dodging the hands of everyone who was reaching for her. Sans desperately tried to catch her with his blue magic, trying to grab ahold of her small body as cars swerved, barely avoiding smashing into her. Sans felt his breath catch in his throat as he tried not to scream as Frisk raced away.

Everyone screamed her name, horrified at the sight of the small human sprinting as fast as she could away from them. Undyne had already gotten out and was tearing down the road, following after her and screaming for her to come back.

Sans looked from a stunned Alphys to Papyrus, who was in shock, his jawbone hanging loosely down, to Toriel, who had tears in her eyes.

"Frisk?" She meekly called out.

Sans said nothing, but shook violently, hating himself for not catching the small child. Before he could react, Papyrus had already leapt from the minivan and was chasing down Undyne and Frisk, calling for them to come back.

Toriel was breathing hard, trying to register what just happened.

"Tori, it's ok." Sans tried to console her, but his voice was small; it wasn't ok. Alphys finally moved the car and parked it out of the road. She looked at Sans and Toriel, at a loss for words.

"Frisk…my child… I don't—I don't understand…" Toriel's voice cracked out as she sobbed.

"I'll find her, Tori." Sans spoke out assertively, filled with determination. Smoothly he got out of the van, ignoring the protests from Alphys and strode over to an alleyway. He hadn't taken a shortcut in a long time—hadn't needed to, but now, left eye glowing an intense blue color, he took one.

He walked out into another, different alleyway and looked around. Nothing, but then, the sound of heavy breathing and shoes slapping against the pavement. Instinctively Sans hid behind a corner, watching as Frisk stopped by a dumpster, looking completely worn out and vomiting loudly. A cold sweat appeared on him as he watched the little kid retch loudly, tears spilling out of her eyes. How horrible she must have felt; he was about to go to her to confront and comfort her when he heard a voice that stopped him cold.

" _Well that was stupid."_

Sans began to shake with rage. He recognized that voice. That terrible, terrible voice.

Chara.

He heard Frisk cry softly for her to stop, only for _her_ voice to come back out.

" _Why should I? You're the one who needs to stop."_

His teeth grit together and grinded with an unbridled loathing. So it had been true. That _thing_ had never died. It was still there, sucking the life out of the kid.

" _Stop trying to be something you're not."_

Sans was done hiding. With an angry countenance he stepped out of the corner and approached. He heard Frisk sob and he balled his skeletal hands into fists, stuffing them into the pockets of his ever-present hoodie.

" _Ugh._ _ **He's**_ _here."_

Sans could not hide his contempt as he approached, noting the look on Frisk's face that wasn't hers.

"Hey kiddo." His voice was shaky with fury; at that point he knew his pupils were merely tiny specks in his eye-sockets. "So…don't you think it's time we talked?" He watched in horror as her face returned to Frisk's and she looked up at him with fear and shock, tears gushing forth from her face. She was regarding him as a monster, and Sans couldn't stop himself from acting like one. Chara was in there, and if he had to be a bad guy to rip that parasite from his kiddo, then he would do it. Frisk's eyes rolled back into her head and Sans dashed forward, catching her as she fell, no doubt passed out from fear and sleep-deprivation.

He held her for a moment, just looking at her face. That was the most peaceful she had been in days. Using his sleeve, he gently wiped her face, dabbing up her tears.

"It's ok, kiddo. I won't let her win." Sans spoke out loud softly, more to himself than anything. He looped his free arm under her legs and held her back with the other as he looked around, trying to get his bearings.

"—check over there?"

"Not yet, Undyne, I am running over right now!"

Sans lifted his head as he heard his brother and Undyne call out, still running around looking for Frisk. About to call out to them, he stopped as Papyrus ran out from the corner and locked eye-sockets with the shorter skeleton.

"S-sans? Human-Frisk!" Papyrus sprinted over, bones rattling loudly, overcome with anxiety. "I-is she?"

"She's fine, Pap, just tired." Sans comforted his brother, feeling bad with how frantic he looked.

"U-undyne!" Papyrus called out. Just seconds later the warrior landed in front of them, having leapt down from a building nearby dramatically.

"How's the kiddo?" Undyne all but shrieked as she ran over, gasping for air.

"She just passed out, that's all." Sans reassured them, to some degree. Undyne made a movement like she wanted to relieve Sans of the small human, but he moved away quickly, maybe too much so. "I've got her." He ground out flatly, nearly taking Undyne and Papyrus aback. "I-I mean, it's ok. You two have been, uh, running a lot. Let's just go find Toriel and Alphys."

Sans watched the looks Undyne and Papyrus gave each other.

"Brother, are you quite alright?" Papyrus looked down at his brother, an incredibly uncomfortable look in his eye-sockets. Undyne didn't say anything, but looked like she wanted to interject. "Do you want to talk?"

It wasn't until Sans looked down and saw droplets on the kid's shirt did he realize he was crying.

"Later." Was all he managed to say as they walked back to the minivan, silencing Undyne and Papyrus from asking any more questions.

When they got back, everything was a blur as Toriel took Frisk from the skeleton and they piled back into the car to drive back home in complete silence, save for the sniffling from Toriel.

* * *

When they all got back home Toriel immediately burst through the door and laid Frisk on the couch to heal her with her magic. Sans wasted no time at all in sitting next to Frisk, wanting to be there the moment she woke up, ready to rip Chara out if he saw even a glimmer of the creature.

"I, I don't understand what's going on, brother." Papyrus' gentle voice finally broke the silence. "What's happening?"

Sans couldn't answer—what would he say? That Frisk was being taken over by a monster that killed them all in a previous timeline? That the poor girl was no doubt breaking down from mental exhaustion?

"We can't let Frisk go out anymore." Undyne spoke up. "We have to figure out why she's like this."

"I just don't understand." Toriel murmured softly, finishing up healing the small child. "She's never acted like this before. Why would she be doing this?"

Sans still didn't respond, but looked down at the child. Her breathing had changed; she was awake. No one else seemed to notice.

"We really can't let the human out of the house?" Papyrus called out, unsure and still bewildered.

Sans contemplated telling everyone Frisk was awake. She didn't need to be hiding anything else at this point.

"I-I've never s-seen her look so t-terrible. I-I'm sorry, Toriel…I should have said something yesterday…" Alphys whispered sadly, tears forming in her eyes, the gravity setting in.

"…Yes. You should have." Toriel snapped softly, surprising everyone.

"Hey! Now is not the time for bickering! We've got the find out what's wrong with the kid!" Undyne shouted out. Sans watched as Frisk's eyelashes fluttered and she twitched slightly.

'Time to wake up.' He thought.

"Kid's awake." Sans cut in, drawing everyone's eyes over to the little girl. Startled she looked up at him, fear etched into her expression. "Welcome back, kiddo." He didn't mean to sound so taunting, but he remembered who was inside of Frisk.

"Frisk, my child." Sans heard Toriel call softly as she attempted to hold onto her daughter, but Frisk was having none of that as she leapt up from the couch and darted away, looking positively feral. Sans could feel his temper flare back up. Chara was making her do this.

It was all he could do to keep himself sitting on the couch, glaring at Frisk, no, _Chara_ , as the little one looked from monster to monster, shaking like a leaf. If not for the others presence, he would have already leaped off the couch and railed against the horrible creature, screaming at it for taking his kiddo's mind hostage, demanding for Frisk's release. But what else would he have done? He couldn't hurt Frisk, now knowing that every attack against Chara would also hurt the little girl.

He narrowed his eyes at Undyne, who had picked Frisk up by the collar and was yelling at her. Sans could feel his hands grip the couch harder, nearly ripping it, as he welled up with a protective sensation. He could feel his left eye flash blue, about ready to throw Undyne off with his magic, when Toriel intervened, and he relaxed.

"Brother…why don't you say anything?" Papyrus murmured quietly over to Sans, who tried not to show how awful he felt for his brother; all this must have been incredibly traumatizing.

"Does it really matter what I say?" Sans waved his hand, knowing that Chara was probably keeping Frisk from talking to them anyway. "Kid won't talk either way." He ignored the look of helplessness on Papyrus' face, feeling a pang of guilt, and a dirty look from Toriel. Sans knew he was right. If Frisk hadn't spoken up yet, then she wouldn't until the family decided to take more drastic measures—which Sans didn't think they had in them.

Coming back into the conversation, Sans heard Undyne sigh and step forward.

"Here's the deal, Frisk. Something is making you like this, and you won't talk. I kinda thought this might happen, so," Sans watched as she paused her speech and looked from every monster in the room back down to Frisk. "Until you feel like talking, I'm proposing that you don't leave our sight, even while you're asleep, until you decide to explain yourself. Each of us will take turns watching you; you don't leave the house until we get to the bottom of this. You got it?"

Sans felt himself nod, agreeing. Maybe if he could get Frisk alone he could finally talk to her about Chara and get to the bottom of everything—maybe he could finally help his kid.

* * *

Nothing had been happening for a long time; Toriel and Frisk had sat at the table for some time; the latter saying nothing at all. Sans sat on the couch, slightly bored, and very sleepy. Toriel and Alphys were watching the kid, but if anything happened he would be up in a split second, ready to knock back Chara. He could hear Undyne and Papyrus shuffling around in the kitchen, making food for everybody. Sans let a soft smile play about his face; even in these tense moments, his brother still cared enough to make sure everyone was well fed. He closed his eye-sockets.

He still didn't know what to do about Chara. The skeleton knew he could definitely beat her in a fight—Frisk's body was too weak to land a hit on him at that point anyway. But he worried about the others. They tended to charge in with their bulk and take the hits like it was nothing; they hadn't dealt with Chara in the peak of her madness. The remembrance of the fight between Chara-possessed Frisk and Sans made him shudder with disgust, unbelieving that he could deal that much pain to the poor kid, and burning up that it hadn't been enough to defeat Chara once and for all. He could have kicked himself for letting this drag on like it did.

Sans felt his eye-sockets grow heavy from lack of sleep. Maybe just a few minutes of slumber wouldn't hurt. Everyone was alert and prepared to restrain Frisk if it was necessary, besides it seemed like Frisk still had control. Eventually Sans' gave up trying to fight the heaviness, and let himself drift off.

A clatter sounded in the kitchen and his eyes snapped open.

"No! My Spaghetti!" He heard Papyrus' voice echo from the kitchen sadly. Sans tried to hide a chuckle, the absurdity of the situation and sleep-deprivation making it funnier than it was. His poor brother…it had smelled so good too, probably had been one of his better batches, even.

Sans closed his eye-sockets again, hearing everyone else go to clean up the mess.

And then he heard Frisk get up.

Sans slowly opened his left eye-socket, wondering what she was planning to do. She stayed in the kitchen for a while. Sans fought the urge to get up and go see what she was doing, wondering if something was up or not.

Had he blood, it would have gone cold when he saw Frisk reemerge from the kitchen, a gleaming tip of a knife barely sticking out from her sleeve as she made her way over to Sans with quiet purpose. Trying his best to not move, trying to pretend to not know what she was about to do as she looked over at him with a blood-thirsty madness in her eyes, trying not to scream out _"why? You're stronger than this!"_ to the little girl who was slowly raising the blade up and over him, trying to keep himself from crying as he watched tears form in her eyes.

As she brought it down, he was already appearing behind her as she stabbed into the couch cushions. She backed up in surprise, running into him, and he caught her, gripping her hand fiercely, barely able to contain his anger. She dropped the knife as Sans seethed with anger, realizing Frisk was slowly losing her hold on her own body.

_Chara made her do this._

"What'cha up to kiddo?" He hissed out through grit teeth, ignoring the tears falling from the tiny human. He leaned in closer, looking past the fear in her eyes to see Chara's raw disappointment. "Trying to **stab** me? **That's not very…knife.** " He could hear the others scream out, but ignored them, fury driving him closer to the edge.

"B-brother! What happened?" Papyrus called out as he rushed over. Sans made no reply, but kept glaring at the girl. He felt a hand on his shoulder, but didn't move his focus.

"Holy shit, Sans! Calm down!" Undyne tried to wrench Sans away from the girl, but he shook her off, not wanting to break his gaze. He had her cornered now. There was no escape.

"O-oh god, w-what's going on?" Alphys cried from somewhere behind him.

"Sans! What are you doing?!" Toriel's horror-struck voice rose out as Frisk began to retch. That…was not what Sans had expected—he let her hand go in surprise as she backed up, heaving bile onto the floor. She looked up at him, a mix of a feral expression and terror etched upon her fragile face as she backed away.

Sans would have none of that; he came forward to meet her, grin barely holding together as he rounded on her. Chara had made Frisk try to stab him. _She was taking over her._

"Sans, what are you doing? Please stop this!" Papyrus called weakly from behind him, laying a gloved hand on his brother. Sans slapped his hand away, registering barely that he was probably making his brother cry.

"Sans, if you don't stop right now, I swear I'll—" Undyne was swiftly cut off by Alphys' and Toriel's screamed for cessation.

"Sans, no! Stop it right now!"

"O-oh god! Please, stop!"

Sans wasn't listening at this point, only concentrating on the slow flickering of Frisk's spirit being consumed by Chara's disgusting one. Time was running out. How dare that disgusting creature take hold of the kid. _His kid._

Sans lifted his hand, his eye blaring blue so intensely he felt his head would crack open with his rage. And then stopped, as she began to hyperventilate, each breath taken like it would be her last. Her eyes darted around the room, from each monster, her face became more twisted with terror at each family member she looked at. She finally looked back to Sans, and the horrified and wide-eyed expression she wore all at once made Sans realize that she remembered. She had literally just remembered everything about their fight. _She had remembered him murdering her over and over and over again._ Sans opened his mouth to say something—

And then she screamed.

Sans listened to her tiny voice erupt into that of desperate sobs and frantic begging. He was frozen; they all were as they listened to her cry and apologize for murdering each one of them. She screamed that she was sorry, repeating the words over and over again like a prayer, to the point it was nothing but a long drawn out sob. Sans wanted to comfort her. This was all so awful—she was so broken inside. That monster Chara had done this, but he set that aside because all he wanted to do was to keep her from hurting. He wanted to tell her it wasn't her fault. He wanted to tell her to stop crying. It was starting to hurt him, and he couldn't even imagine how the others must have felt at that point.

He stepped forward, trying to find the right words to say, but she sprang back, crying even harder, begging Sans not to hurt her again. Collapsing onto the ground, too tired to stand anymore, she gripped her head so hard Sans could see the tiny bubbles of blood emerge from her the skin under her fingernails. She screamed that she was sorry for trying to reset to make it all better, and Sans reached out to put a hand on her head, about to take her hands in his, but she slapped wildly at him, throwing herself away from the source and then looking up, tears and phlegm running down her face in dishevelment. Her breathing became more unstable as her struggle to take in air between the wracked sobs and screams increased, still shrieking for mercy and for Sans to spare her.

"Just—just breathe, my child, everything will be alright!" Toriel finally called out, voice cracked as tears fell down her face.

"Stop it, Human-Frisk, you're hurting yourself!" Papyrus' weak cry came, his voice breaking from confusion or hurt or bewilderment, Sans couldn't tell, but it was making him feel even _worse_ , if that was possible.

"Kiddo…" Sans weakly tried, his voice not obeying him properly. He reached out to Frisk once more, trying to grab her hands away from her before she did any more damage to herself. She looked up at him and let out a blood-curdling scream and dashed away from him, shouting for him not to hurt her, to just to leave her alone.

"Frisk!" Toriel shouted as she caught her daughter in mid-run, bringing her into a tight embrace. "It's going to be okay, my child! Just please, calm down!" The sight of the mother imploring Frisk to stop crushed Sans. This was all so, so horrible—and there was nothing he could do. A part of him was burning; surely Chara was reveling in all the chaos. But Frisk let out a screech, an intangible babble of apologies and pleads before wrenching herself away from the hold, dodging Papyrus and Undyne's outstretched arms before sprinting away to her room.

Sans followed the others as they tore after her, finding her ducked under the covers of her bed, whimpering and begging for the voice in her head to stop taunting her, stop telling her to kill her family, stop trying to hurt her. Trying to see from his spot behind the others, he could make out her cries as they began to become intelligible again, with Sans' picking out her cries for everyone to keep him away from her, to leave her alone, for him not to tell the others, not to hurt her, not to kill her, not to destroy her soul, not to hate her.

Sans felt his bones rattle with revulsion for himself. Chara was doing this—no, he _and_ Charawere both responsible. Chara drove Frisk to madness, and Sans pushed her off the edge. He desperately tried to keep his tears contained as they threatened to spill out of his sockets, realizing that Frisk might never be the same again.

"I'll watch her. Undyne, Alphys, maybe you should go home." Toriel finally spoke, soft and collected, snapping Sans back to the other's presence. Sans opened his mouth to interject, but Alpyhs spoke up first, cutting him off.

"N-no. I think we sh-should stay. Y-you can't stay up all n-night and watch her b-by yourself…"

"She's right. It would be wrong of us to leave now when Frisk is like this." Undyne agreed, her voice much calmer than Sans had ever heard it.

"Brother, I don't know what is going on. Why has the human been acting like this? Is she going to be ok? What did she mean when she said she killed us?" Papyrus looked at Sans, his eye-sockets probing his shorter brother for anything reassuring. Sans had nothing to offer him, not willing to make things worse by telling his brother that she was having flashbacks to the timeline when she killed them all, and now the creature that made her do it was slowly taking back over her. Finally finding his voice, Sans spoke up.

"Tori, I'll take the next watch. I can handle anything that happens, if it does."

"No, Sans." Toriel cut in, her voice a hard whisper. "I think…maybe you two should be separated…at least for a while. I think she is very frightened of you right now, and your presence wouldn't help her."

Her voice seemed so far away as he felt his soul become shattered.

No.

_No._

He couldn't be—

Not from his kid.

Not like this. Not when she was so frail and weak. Not when at any moment Chara could take over her fragile human body. He clenched his fists, still trying to keep his bones from making an audible rattling, barely able to contain his heartbreak and frustration.

He opened his mouth, but no words would form. All eyes were on him, and he quickly ducked his head away, trying not to look so shaken up about it. Instead, he forced one of his trademarked nonchalant grins onto his face and shrugged, before shuffling off, heading to his room.

"Br-brother?" Papyrus called meekly after him. Sans vaguely heard Toriel tell him something before his brother's boots sounded after him. "Sans!" He called again.

Sans wasn't sure how to respond, barely keeping his façade up, barely keeping himself together.

"Brother, please. Please tell me what's going on. The human-Frisk seems so hurt, there was so much crying and screaming…did she hurt you? Did you hurt her? What's going on? I'm so confused. What did she mean by 'killed everyone?' What should I do? Why are you still walking away? Don't you want to help her? Why won't you answer me?" Papyrus' voice shook, cracking as he tried to get the words out. It only hurt Sans more as his brother continued on, desperate for answers. His hands in his pockets to keep them from shaking, Sans continued to ignore his brother, at a loss of what to say, feeling his skull start to hurt, a headache coming on. Flashes of the small child lying in a pool of her own blood danced through his head and he grimaced visibly.

"Sans!" Papyrus encircled his brother with his arms, his tears dripping onto Sans' hoodie. "Please. I'm scared. I don't know what to do." Sans felt tears fall down his skull. That was it. He was losing it. He had to get out. He had to go. He was breaking down, losing it just like Frisk.

"Pap." Sans attempted to calmly turn and grab Papyrus by the shoulders, his grin faltering with each word. "It'll be ok. Take care of things while I'm out, ok?"

"Where are you going?" Papyrus whimpered, disbelief all over his face.

Sans said nothing but walked away, opening the door to his room, ignoring his brother's protests.

And then suddenly he wasn't in that house anymore.

* * *

It was dark out, but the park Sans appeared in was dimly lit by flickering street lamps, probably long overdue to having their bulbs changed. Glancing around, he regarded how quiet it was, save for the rustling of leaves as they danced along in the autumn wind. The moon was merely a slit in the sky, giving no illumination to the playground, but also allowing the stars to twinkle vibrantly far above the lonely skeleton. He walked over to a bench nearby, enjoying the quiet, enjoying how there was nothing going on. Sitting down, he immediately collapsed onto it, holding his skull in his hands. Memories of taking Frisk to the quiet park filled him up, making his very soul shake with exasperation.

He couldn't be near Frisk.

The realization set in, hard. Even if he wanted to help her, he couldn't. The sight of him would drive her into a frenzy like she had just been in. It was so awful. Sans could barely contain himself as his body began to shake. He grit his teeth hard, trying to hold back a feral scream of frustration, so embittered at his own uselessness, his regret at not doing anything sooner—why hadn't he just confronted her like he should have days ago? Why did he let it get this bad?

Deep down he had known it would come to this, he had _felt_ it. So why?

Why?

Was it because he was too lazy?

Too damn lazy to help Frisk? His kid that he promised to watch over and protect?

_What the hell was wrong with him?_

Sans' teeth began to chatter as he held in his voice, trying to keep it from erupting out of him, a mournful scream writhing within him. His body began to creak and rattle, the stress from his own perceived failure bursting forth, whipping into a frenzy. All around the skeleton, a blue aura appeared—his magic that was exploding out of him as his mind raced, imagining Chara's cackle as she consumed Frisk's delicate soul. How could he let this happen? His voice came out, soft and shaky, as tears formed in his eye-sockets. He could no longer hold it back—hold anything back, and began to shriek, letting his voice fill up the air as he released his built up frustrations, sadness, bitterness, loss, guilt, fears, memories.

He did this.

_He did this._

_**He did this.** _

_**He did this he did this hedidthishedidthishedidthishedidthis…** _

He couldn't think of anything, couldn't do anything but keep screaming out as he fell from the bench, landing on the ground on his knees, his blue magic whipping the dirt around him, stirring it up in a storm of raw emotion. Tears spilled forth, streaming down his skull as he kept emptying his voice into the night, unrelenting and unceasing.

* * *

Sans awoke with the sun barely shining on him, just poking out from the horizon. Opening his eye-sockets he registered vaguely that he was laying face-first on the ground. His head groggy, his jaw sore, he got up, dusting the dirt off of his skull. Had he passed out last night? Rolling over, he got to his feet shakily and patted the rest of the dirt from his clothes. He was standing in a crater, he realized, and replayed yesterday's events in his head, scowling from remembrance. He had never lost himself like that before, not even when Papyrus had died. He held his skull in his hand, trying to shake himself out of it.

Sans briefly wondered if he could return to the house. No doubt Papyrus would be mad at him for leaving just like that; Toriel would probably have some choice words to say to him about it too. He heaved a sigh and stepped out of the crater. He wanted to return home; worry consumed him about Frisk's delicate condition. Even if he couldn't be seen by her, he still needed to be there for her, he decided, resolutely. And…

He needed a way to deal with Chara.

Somehow he had to separate the two, before the monster did anything worse to his kiddo.

He raised his eye-sockets up. He took a step forward.

Suddenly he was in his room. It was still the same old messy room as he had left it. He heard Papyrus' voice sound out and he let himself smile. He missed his voice.

Then he gasped, hearing Papyrus' voice fill with _fear._

He ran over to the door and flung it open, launching himself out, nearly tripping on his own feet.

"Papyrus!" he shouted desperately. Was his brother ok? Had Chara gotten to him? He dashed out of the hallway to see Undyne and Alphys sitting around Papyrus, trying to calm the crying skeleton.

"It's all my fault!" he whimpered, his hands holding his skull in lament. "I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, look, dude, we'll find her, she can't have gotten far." Undyne called out soothingly. "It's ok."

"Y-yeah, y-you couldn't have known! So don't worry!" Alphys pat him on the arm reassuringly.

Toriel came out from the kitchen, closing her phone.

"I called the police they're calling around businesses and other places where human children usually play in." Toriel clasped the phone to her breast, her eyes watering slightly. "I just hope she's ok. Oh, my child—Sans?" Her head snapped over to Sans, who was standing speechless in the doorway, staring at his brother in confusion. "Where have you been?! Frisk is gone!"

Sans made no reply, the sudden news shocking him to his very core. _What?_ Frisk was gone? _How?_

"I'm so sorry, Sans!" Papyrus bawled. "It's all my fault! I just wanted to read a bedtime story to the human-Frisk like you do for me…and then I fell asleep. And then she left." Tears threatened to spill out of his eye-sockets as he looked to his brother. "I'm sorry; I failed everyone."

"Oh." Sans stunted reply came. "W-well, uh, that's ok, Pap. These things happen. B-but that's not good that she's out of the house." Sans was shaking at this point, but his grin and voice remained the same as always as he forced the words out. "I-it's super cool of you to have thought to read her a bedtime story. But, seriously, we need to find her. I-if we don't find Chara, Frisk will be…" Sans trailed off, not wanting to finish what he had said, realizing that in his shock he had said too much.

"What?" Undyne narrowed her eyes at him. "Who's Chara?" She stood up from her kneeling position by Papyrus and stalked over to Sans threateningly.

"Nothing you need to worry about." Sans snapped, his grin faltering by a fraction. Toriel seemed to notice and took a step forward tentatively.

"Sans…be honest. What's going on? What do you know?" Toriel had that tone in her voice again, that tone that was just so sad and pathetic; Sans was struggling not to talk to her. "No…" Toriel's eyes widened in realization. "You've known since the beginning, haven't you? You've known that something was wrong with Frisk since before she started acting up."

Sans made no response, cursing how observant Toriel was. He merely stood there, hands shoved in his pockets as the others stared at him expectantly.

"Sans, you son of a—" Undyne grabbed him by the collar. "If you had known something, why the hell didn't you speak up sooner? So help me, if you don't talk I'll—"

"Undyne, please." Papyrus pleaded. The warrior frowned, but complied and dropped Sans, who landed on his feet. "Brother, please. Please talk. We both know you always hide things."

"Pap, I—" Sans tried to interrupt, but Papyrus continued over him.

"No, Sans. Always! You're always hiding something, whether it's nightmares you have at night, to how tired and sleep-deprived you always are. And even now, when you should be _angry_ and _disappointed_ in me, you're still hiding it! I know more than you think I do, brother. Why can't you just tell me? Why can't you just trust me that I can take whatever it is? I'm your brother for goodness' sake! I'm here to support you, Sans! And this is involving the human, someone whom I care about! Why would you keep their suffering from us?"

Sans looked away, not wanting to have his brother tell him these things.

"Sans…" Toriel's quiet voice sounded out. "Please. If you had told us sooner, we could have prevented all this. Frisk would have never had to go through this, or hidden it all from us."

Sans still remained quiet, and then scoffed.

"There's no way it could have been prevented. Even if I had said something, the kiddo wouldn't have talked. That's just the way she is."

"How do you know that, brother?" Papyrus asked quietly after a bit.

Sans frowned, his grin fading in front of others for the first time in a long while, but remained silent. He was done with this. There was no way they'd understand, he might as well leave and try to find his kid before she got too far.

"S-sans…In order to understand someone's struggles, we have to know what exactly they are going through. Th-this will help start the healing process, o-or so I've been told…" Alphys spoke quietly, trying to sound confident.

"It's not like you would believe me if I told you anyway." Sans muttered, looking away from everyone, wondering if he had enough magic to take himself several miles away from the house.

"Brother, please." Papyrus pleaded, approaching his brother and placing his hands on his shoulders. "Please."

There was a heavy silence that hung in the air as Sans' mind reeled, trying to figure out what the right thing to do was. They didn't need to know that Frisk was a murderer at one point, through fault of her won or not, but on the other hand, they would find out eventually, wouldn't they? And his poor brother; he was begging and pleading, and he was _right,_ Sans was hiding things about his best friend, and it hurt his brother. He really was trash. He closed his eye-sockets and opened his mouth.

"You've all died once before. You don't remember it, but I do. Frisk was the one who did it."

The tension in the air rose dramatically as everyone protested all at once.

"Br-brother! What are you saying?"

"You're lying!"

"W-what? N-no way!"

"Sans, if this is a joke no one is laughing."

Sans smiled sadly.

"Didn't say it was, Tor." He sighed and glanced away from everyone. He knew they wouldn't listen, why did he even bother again? He was about to leave when Toriel continued.

"Fine, Sans. Assuming this is true, explain it more thoroughly."

"…For reasons I can't explain, really, I can't, Frisk has, or had, the ability to, uh, reset time. In a timeline past this one, she murdered everyone." Sans took a breath, not really able to stop himself anymore. He was so done with everything; the mental exhaustion weighed on him heavily. "It was…awful. I had seen the kiddo in a timeline even before that, so when she began the killings, I just thought, hey, the kid's showing her true colors." He paused, watching Papyrus' jaw tremble, seeming like he wanted to say something but was too afraid to speak as Sans continued. "I…let everyone die. I couldn't bring myself to hurt her, and then all of a sudden, well, vengeance is sure one hell of an emotion."

"Sans…what did you do…?" Toriel's voice sounded haunted as she began to piece together what Sans was alluding to.

"I met her in the Judgement Hall; at that point, I couldn't let her face Asgore. So…" Sans was shaking, remembering that day, still embedded in his mind like a fresh wound. "I fought her. Over and over. She kept resetting, I kept fighting. Until… well," He tried not to notice the horrified look on Toriel's face, the anger on Undyne's, the fear on Alphys', and the hurt on Papyrus'. "I was about to end her."

Toriel let out a gasp and Sans chuckled darkly.

"That's why I don't like making promises." He added quietly. "But then, as I was about to do it, y'know, something happened. This…thing…came out of the kiddo: Chara. It had been controlling Frisk, making her do those horrible things, though, uh, I'm still not sure why." Sans tried to steady himself, to keep from rattling so louder, but to no avail. Everyone's facial expressions were making it so much harder for him. He really wanted to leave right then and there, but his mouth kept speaking words. "I thought I had destroyed it on that day…I thought it was over. Right as the kiddo was about to die, the uh, world reset, and I was back home in Snowdin, as if it never happened. And no one remembered anything. No one ever remembered the resets, except for me. When I met the kiddo again, she was like how we see her now: a sweet, little, human child. I put it out of my mind—after all, uh, she'd never shown that kind of disposition since."

"But that doesn't explain why she went nuts like she did, unless she remembers—" Undyne mused out loud.

"Exactly. Unless she's starting to remember what she was made to do." Sans spoke low. "And this is why we have no time for this chit chat. I think Chara is trying to take back over Frisk. It seems like this time Chara may really take over the kiddo completely: body and soul."

"N-no! that's not right! That's not going to happen! We can, we can—" Papyrus stood up, shouting defiantly.

"Pap, the last time I was able to separate the two was when the kid was nearly dead. I'm not so sure there's a way we can stop this." Sans stated resignedly.

"There has to be…my child, she…she…"Toriel stammered out in disbelief. "There has to be something, something you didn't think of…"

"Tor." Sans stopped her, holding up a hand. "I know what you're thinking. I know you want her to be safe, I mean, that's what I want. But this may play out to where the kid may not make it."

Toriel's jaw fell, and then her eyes filled up with a burning rage.

"You are not. Going to hurt. My child." She hissed angrily at Sans, a red glow surrounding her hands.

"Look, Tor. If you believe what I just said, then there may not be another way."

"I agree with her, Sans." Undyne stepped forward, menacingly. In the background, Alphys held her hands over her mouth in shock, the scenarios playing out before her too intense to comment on. "I won't let you hurt that punk, even if she's going crazy, even if she's possessed by some freak."

"I'm not going to hurt her." Sans spoke quietly, perhaps hurt that his friends would insinuate that of him. "But I am going to find her, and I'm beggin' that none of you try to do the same."

"Brother, what—" Papyrus stammered out.

"I've seen everyone die once. That was enough for me, bro." Sans shook his skull, backing away from everyone. "But I promise I'll bring her back safe. Really. I'm the only one who can stop her anyway."

"Sans, this is nonsense. We shouldn't be sending only one of us to find her, we should be working as a team, calling the police and her school, seeing if anyone has—" but Sans cut her off; feeling the clock ticking against him.

"Please, Tori. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be. I'll be back soon."

Everyone tried to interject, to catch a hold of him, but he had already disappeared.

* * *

Sans had no idea where his kid would run off to. He thought about her school or maybe the park, but searching there yielded him nothing. He searched the alleyway where he found her after she had leapt out of the minivan. Nothing. He searched everywhere he could think a small child would run off to, each try gaining him more desperation as there was not a trace of her to be found.

Days past, and he had thoroughly combed the city. She just wasn't there.

Panic overtook him; he began to run out of magic. He tried asking the humans in the city, showing them her picture. No one had seen her. No one knew her.

Calling Toriel and giving her updates, she told him the police in the next town over had spotted someone matching her description. Sans wasted no time in getting there, hoping and praying she was still Frisk, that she hadn't become a monster, that she wasn't hurting anyone, that she would finally talk to him.

He found her in a park, the last one he checked, asleep on a play-scape tunnel, thin and ragged, worn out from her multi-day runaway journey. Sans nearly cried as he ran over to her, so thankful and happy to finally find her, to finally see her. He laughed out loud, relief washing over him.

Placing a hand on her head, he gently shook her.

"Hey kiddo, wake up."

She opened her eyes.


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shit gets real real fast

Chapter 5

The sounds of the city filled the air like a thick stench. Walking around the city was a mix of terrifying and exhilarating.

 It was almost like being back in the Underground, Frisk realized as she stepped down the sidewalk, weaving in and out of the people going to work in the morning. Adjusting her backpack, she looked up to the sky. When she was in the Underground, she was all alone, not knowing what to do; only her determination kept her going. With a bitter smile she thought about how it was the same now; her friends were nowhere with her, but at least they were safe.  Frisk stepped up to the corner, waiting for the light to change to let her cross the street.

It was a weird feeling, being out on her own, trying to cut ties with her family. It hurt, god it hurt, but at least they would be free from her.

And free from Chara—who had been spending a vast amount of time assaulting Frisk with her own wretched memories of brutalizing the monsters she loved.

_“Go back, Frisk. Go back **now**.”_

Her voice had been getting more and more desperate, and less angry. Frisk almost felt sorry for her, but between the images of her friends’ warping and dying, she could feel little else but fear and remorse for her lack of control.

Frisk shook her head and continued on, trotting up to the bus stop, letting herself sit on the bench to wait for the bus as Chara chanted for her to turn back, to reset, to leave the city.

Another memory wracked Frisk; this time it was Papyrus looking down at her in betrayal as he corroded into dust.

Frisk visibly flinched. She begged Chara to stop.

_“I’m trying to help us, Frisk. You need to go back.”_

Frisk shook her head. No, if she went back Chara would only hurt her friends. Chara sneered at her.

_“I seriously doubt they’re your friends at this point. I mean, did you **see** the look on Smiley-trashbag’s face? He hates our guts. If he finds us out here…”_

Frisk insisted that he wouldn’t, and retorted that it would be worse if she went back to the house.

_“Then just reset. This will all be over and we can start again.”_

Frisk blinked. No, she couldn’t. She refused to take away everyone’s happy ending.

_“Oh please. They never deserved a happy ending anyway. Think about it; those guys are fools. Toriel abandoned her people, Papyrus will **never** be royal guard material—he ruins anything he touches, anyway. Undyne is a violent freak—she tried to kill you and ask questions later. Alphys is a meek, scared nerd who can barely stand up for herself, let alone others. And don’t even get me started on Smiley-Trashbag.”_

Frisk tried to maintain a semblance of sanity in her outward appearance as people began to gather around her, waiting for the bus to come. She tried to fight the feeling that maybe Chara was right—no. There was no way. Her friends may not have seemed perfect, but they were her _family._ She was willing to accept them, flaws and all.

There was a large crowd now; adults towered over the small child as she sat cloistered on the bench, suddenly very aware of how tiny she was in comparison. A shiver creeped down her spine—a shiver that wasn’t hers. 

 _“…can’t trust them…”_ Chara’s voice was remarkably subdued, and Frisk nearly jumped. Was…Chara _scared?_

“Um…Excuse me,” A portly woman peered down at Frisk over her sunglasses with a mixture of concern and incredulity. “Shouldn’t a young child like you be with your mummy or daddy?”

Frisk could feel fear radiating from within. Sure she was uncomfortable talking to a stranger, but not to this degree. Chara was silent, save for the smallest of whimperings. The part of her that was Chara’s was emanating a wave of nausea and terror, making Frisk almost recoil away in pain. But Frisk smiled through the awkwardness, telling the lady that she was getting on the bus to meet her parents. The woman gave her one more look, not really believing her, but not appearing nosey enough to care and turned to look at her phone.

 _“Fools…trash…all of them are foolish pieces of trash…”_ Chara’s voice was breaking now. She sounded…almost in tears…? _“…need to go…”_

Frisk wanted to ask what was wrong as Chara’s voice began to break down and warp.

_“No…please no…go away…humans are, are… please…”_

And then silence. Frisk couldn’t hear Chara anymore—couldn’t _feel_ her.

She was free…

Her mind was her own.

Chara’s oppression and malice was gone and Frisk breathed easily, barely letting a smile play on her features.

Maybe Chara was finally gone.

Maybe Frisk could be at peace.

Maybe…She could go home…

She heard the familiar sounds of a diesel engine slowing down and turned her head to see a city bus lazily creep around the corner. Breath hitching in her throat, she felt the first pangs of uncertainty well up inside of her. She could still go back… maybe she would be ok…

No.

The bus let out a hissing sound as it pulled up to the curb, its doors opening with a snap. Frisk got up slowly, filled with hesitation as the adults around her clambered onto the bus.

Frisk couldn’t go back. As safe as she felt right in that moment, she knew Chara wasn’t gone. She would surely come back. The concern for her friends’ well-being, and her impending loss of sanity propelled her forward as she took a step onto the bus.

She felt self-conscious as the bus driver eyed her with suspicion; she tried to ignore it, shifting her gaze away as she dropped a few coins into the pay slot and looked around for a seat. None of the other passengers seemed to give her any mind and she picked a seat near the back by a large window, which she was thankful for.

The moment she sat down, she felt a rush of relief hit her like a tidal wave. Chara was silent, her friends were safe from harm, and she was going to start her life over again. Letting out a sigh, she allowed her heavy eyelids to close as she felt the soothing embrace of sleep take her.

Maybe this sleep would be peaceful.

* * *

 

_The field she was crossing was colored intense amber as it weaved and waved in the wind, almost as if beckoning her to move forward._

_Frisk stopped trudging through the tall grass, blinking._

_Was this another dream?_

_She thought she was safe from them! Chara had left her!_

_No…_

_Frisk looked around. The area she was in, the mountains in the distance, the field of grass, the line of trees and wilds on the horizon; she was back at Mt Ebbot, before her descent into the mountain._

_She felt her body move forward, making her way toward the impossibly tall mountain. Was Chara showing her Frisk’s past right then? What was her reasoning for doing so though? The worst part of her journey into the mountain had been her fall…or perhaps maybe her encounter with Flowey. Or was there something else horrible that Chara was going to show that Frisk couldn’t remember?_

_She trained her eyes downward and caught sight of her clothing. She was wearing brown shorts and a green sweater with a single yellow stripe._

_Those weren’t the clothes that she wore when she wandered to Mt Ebott. Whose were they?_

_She blinked and she was on the edge of the mountain, looking down into the abyss. It was quiet, save for the soft blow of the wind, almost as if it was pushing her downward. Her body stayed frozen, refusing to jump or back down._

_Finally she felt her body pitch forward, feeling a whoosh of air whip around her face as the darkness welcomed her descent. She felt her eyes close; whoever she was, she was welcoming it._

_She felt nothing, and was grateful, realizing she must have passed out during her fall. She was lying on the hard ground, feeling pain in her body; maybe she had broken several bones. Her eyes remained closed, and Frisk felt a wave of anticipation as to what would happen next. If this person fell like Frisk did, and they fell exactly where she did, she knew she would be in the ruins._

_She would meet Flowey, and begin this whole journey all over again. Surely this was Chara trying to torment her again. She had been so stupid to think she was safe for a single moment—_

_“Whoa! Are you ok?”_

_Her eyes snapped open as she heard a small voice speak to her. It was familiar somehow, but before she could reminisce about it, she saw a familiar visage peer into her line of sight._

_“You took quite a tumble there, can you stand?” The creature, Frisk could now see, resembled a white goat humorously enough wearing brown shorts and a green sweater just like she was. It was Asriel, she realized, and was about to call out to him when she heard words tumble out of her mouth._

_“’m fine.” Frisk felt whoever she was try to stand, only to wobble a little before nearly face-planting into the ground. “Who…are you…? Are you a monster…?”_

_Asriel helped steady her, putting a small delicate snow white paw on her shoulder as her body moved to correct itself._

_“Uh, well, I’m a monster, yeah. Are you…a human…?” He asked curiously as Frisk felt her hands moving upon her legs and arms, seeming as if to try and make sure nothing was broken. She felt herself grimace, unsure if due to the pain she was in, or to the utterance of the word “human.”_

_“Yeah. I am, I guess.” Came the reply. Frisk felt her eyes narrow at the small goat-boy. “You didn’t answer me though. Who are you?”_

_Asriel looked slightly nervous, peering down at his feet, then back up at Frisk._

_“I’m Asriel Dreemur. It’s, um, nice to meet you.” He shifted to catch Frisk’s body as she tried to take another step forward. “If you want, my mom knows healing magic, she can fix you up, if you’d like. Do you want to come with me?”_

_Frisk felt herself nod, a bubble of interest seemed to creep up on her from mention of “magic,” and Frisk suddenly had an uneasy feeling of who the body she was in might have been. She felt vicariously through whoever’s body this was that perhaps that magic the goat-boy spoke of could be used somehow to her benefit. It brought a shiver to her body._

_With Asriel supporting most of her weight, he led them through a brightly lit hallyway._

_“Um, can I ask your name?”_

_Frisk felt a smile creep up on her face._

_“It’s Chara.”_

* * *

 

Frisk woke up to the sensation of being thrown forward, her face connecting with the bus seat in front of her. Rubbing her face tenderly, she peeked outside the window, noticing the bus was at a traffic light. The bus must have stopped suddenly due to that, Frisk reassured herself.

What had she seen in her dream? It actually hadn’t been that bad—that nap had been the first peaceful bit of sleep Frisk had gotten in a long while. She almost felt a little better, a little less tired too. But she had been Chara; rather, she had seen a memory of Chara when she first came to the underground.

That’s right, Frisk remembered. Chara was the first human after all. She had been Asriel’s best friend. Or, at least, that’s what Asriel said, but he had also mentioned Chara having perhaps not been as nice as he had always remembered.

Why had she seen that anyway? It didn’t seem like Chara had forced her to see it or anything, it just sort of…happened.

Then Frisk had a thought.

What if she could peer into Chara’s head, just like Chara had done to her? What if she could get a sense of what or who Chara was? She could find out any weaknesses and use them against her. She could fight back against Chara’s influence!

But what if she saw something so horrible, so vile—just like the things Chara had shown her. She shivered but closed her eyes, trying to probe within herself for Chara’s essence.  She literally had no idea if it would even work, or how to even find Chara. Her mind was blank as she searched and tried to feel for something dark and sinister within.

She felt something stir and reached inward for it.

And then, rage bubbled up from the point of contact.

_“Just what do you think you’re doing?!”_

Chara’s voice thundered loudly in Frisks’ head, nearly vaulting her out of her seat and onto the floor. Catching the seat in front of her, she steadied herself as Chara’s vocal barrage continued.

_“You aren’t allowed in my thoughts! Don’t you dare ever look! Get out get out GET OUT!!”_

Frisk felt her mind reeling from the stress and the screaming in her head. This was far worse than she had ever felt before; Chara’s shrieking and rage had exploded so suddenly, Frisk’s mind was sent into a flurry of thought and commotion. Various images flashed before her eyes, not only of her friends, but of Asriel and Chara and…the six other souls?

It was all coming too fast, Chara was too frantic, her emotions too violent and sporadic for Frisk’s tired mind to keep up. Everything was spiraling and she could no longer keep her balance. She felt her fingers relax as her vision faded to black; her body beginning to fall into that uncomfortable darkness once again.

 

* * *

 

_Her eyes snapped open once more. She half expected to see visions of her friend’s disgusting demises, but instead, she was treated to the image of Asgore, Toriel, and Asriel sobbing quietly over her._

_Where was she?_

_“Why? How could this have happened?” Frisk heard Toriel sob._

_Frisk was struck with the realization that she could not move her eyes, nor the rest of her, for that matter. In fact, she wasn’t even breathing. Was she looking at Chara’s memories right then?_

_“I know, my dear. I can’t believe Chara’s gone.” Asgore’s loud, low voice rumbled out sadly. In her peripheral, Frisk could make out Asgore’s paws on Toriel and Asriel’s shoulders, trying his best to comfort his family._

_She felt almost a twinge of sadness well up in her, but then satisfaction._

“All according to plan…”

_She heard the tiniest of voices in the back of her head and nearly panicked. What plan? What was going on? Was she dead? Was Chara dead?_

_“Mom…Dad…Can I have a moment alone with Chara?” Asriel’s voice broke softly as he spoke to his parents. “Please?”_

_Frisk couldn’t hear them say anything, but heard their footsteps retreat away until there was only the sound of Asriel’s sniffling._

_“H-hey Chara…” He spoke sadly, letting out a whimper. “I guess it worked, huh? Now we can finally…finally…” His voice quieted, and Frisk had to strain to hear him. “…break the barrier…”_

_She saw a bright red light in front of her, and felt her chest move as a light began to grow out of it._

_That was…it was…_

_A red heart lingered in the air and at once Frisk realized it was Chara’s soul. Asriel gently wrapped a downy paw around it protectively, pushing it into his chest._

_Frisk strained to see him. What was he doing? Wait…_

_She recalled Asriel telling her about how Chara and him had conspired to break the barrier themselves. Asriel had said that he absorbed her soul and transformed; he was able to take her body through the barrier._

_But he had died due to his run in with humans._

_Frisk didn’t want to see this happen. She didn’t want to watch what was about to unfold._

_She saw a light out of the corner of her eyes envelope Asriel. He must have absorbed the soul, she reasoned as she laid there, a prisoner to the events unfolding._

_His appearance resembled his “omega form,” tall, mature and haunting, as he stared down at the unmoving body before him. Frisk heard him move, and then felt his paws wrap under her, no, Chara’s legs and back, picking her up gingerly._

_“Let’s do this, Chara.” He whispered solemnly down to Chara, closing her eyes with his paw._

_Frisk’s vision was embraced by darkness once again, but she could hear footsteps—Asriel’s—as they made their way to what she assumed was the barrier._

_She didn’t know why, but the whole time she felt a wave of gross anticipation from the back of her mind. Was it still Chara’s influence that was making her feel that way? Or was she just afraid of the things to come?_

_She felt a funny feeling come over her, much like when she had crossed the barrier with her family. They must have just crossed, then._

_Frisk heard Asriel murmur something into her ear, but couldn’t make it out. She wanted to ask him to speak up, she wanted to tell him to stop—he was only going to get himself killed._

_She heard nothing from him for some time. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed in her uncertain limbo in the dark._

_“We’re here.” Asriel sighed heavily. “I just thought, maybe you’d like to see the flowers you always wanted to see, you know, before we…we…get six more souls.” He continued, setting Frisk down on something soft and plush._

_It was agony not being able to breathe, not that she needed to in this reverie, but there some something so jarring about it all; about watching events unfold from a corpse. Lost in her thoughts, she felt her eyelids slowly open, though not from her own force; it must have been a reflex from being moved._

_Yellow flowers surrounded her, just like the ones she had seen during her first trip into the underground, just like the ones she had fallen on._

_There was more silence between the body and Asriel as he sat down next to her._

_“I wish it hadn’t been like this, Chara.” He sighed, his voice breaking ever-so-slightly. “I wish you hadn’t…hadn’t…”_

**_“Hadn’t what?”_ **

_The sudden familiar voice rang out dangerously and Frisk wanted more than anything to run right then and there._

_“…Chara?” Asriel asked, confused. From her peripheral, Frisk had noticed the sudden change in Asriel’s demeanor._

_No, Chara couldn’t be…_

**_“In the flesh! Or, at least, your flesh. Heh.”_ ** _Her voice resonated out of Asriel’s._

_No. No._

_No._

_“Chara! You’re alive?!” He sounded hopeful as he shouted, turning to pick up the fallen body, seeming to believe that Chara was still in it._

_No, stop._

**_“Well, not really. I’m alive, but in you.”_ ** _Her voice had a strange ominous edge to it._

_What was she planning to do?!_

_“I’m so happy; I’m so, so…” Asriel trailed off, overcome with emotion._

_Please…stop…_

**_“Well then, let’s finish what we came here to do then.”_ **

_“But, I have so many questions to ask, so many—“_

_Asriel was abruptly cut off by shouts and screams that seemed to get closer and angrier._

_What was happening?_

_Oh no. Frisk knew what would happen next._

_“Humans?” Asriel called out in alarm. “Wh-what are they doing here? Why do they have those…spears, those swords, those torches?”_

**_“Asriel! Fight them! Kill them and take their souls!”_ ** _Chara’s voice screamed out in the same panic Frisk had heard before she cloistered herself away. **“Please! Kill those humans! Do it! Just do it!”**_

_Frisk had no time to contemplate her predicament further before she felt something wet splash against her face._

_It was crimson and sticky, covering her mouth and eyes. She saw Asriel above her, impaled on a human’s spear._

_“Humans, please, I didn’t hurt this child, she’s my frie—“ He cut himself off with an ear-splitting scream as another spear connected to his body._

**_“Asriel! Just do it! Stop trying to use Mercy on these fools!”_ ** _Chara continued to scream over the barrage of attacks and shouts from the humans surrounding them._

_With a feral roar, Asriel stooped down and picked up the body and tore through the crowd of humans, panting and staggering as fast as he could._

_Frisk could feel her vision peter out, knowing that Asriel was about to take his last breath very soon. She could still hear Chara screaming at him through his voice, her screams becoming more unintelligible as she demanded to know why he hadn’t struck out, why he had just fled instead._

_Frisk felt the familiar sensation of crossing the barrier once more and was immediately flung to the ground, the last of Asriel’s strength fading quickly._

_“Sorry, Chara…” He breathed out, sounding drowsy and pained. “I failed you…But…we’ll meet again soon, ok? Just wait for me…”_

_The familiar sound of a monster body turning into dust filled the room. Frisk watched as the last little bit of her vision faded as Asriel’s dust settled on the ground._

_The last thing she was able to see was Chara’s red floating orb hover over it before her vision faded completely._

* * *

 

Frisk stirred groggily as a flurry of muffled voices sounded out above her. What was going on? She let out a groan; the side of her head was killing her, almost as if she had fallen out of her seat—

Her eyes snapped open and she looked up to see several people standing over her worriedly, including the bus driver.

“Is she ok?”

“Hey, give her some space!”

“What happened? Did she fall?”

“Maybe we should call an ambulance?”

Frisk sat up hurriedly, feeling her face grow hot from embarassment. She wasn’t in her seat anymore; she had indeed fallen off and onto the floor of the bus.

_“Serves you right.”_

Frisk ignored Chara’s biting comment and reassured everyone that she was fine, just that her head hurt a little and that she must have fallen asleep.

“I dunno, kid. I think we should call an ambulance. You could have seriously hurt yourself.” The bus driver peered down at her, a look of skepticism etched onto his features when Frisk insisted that she was fine and did not need any medical help. “Well, where the hell are your parents then, letting their kid run around by herself out here?”

Frisk made up a lie that she was on her way to see them actually, as the crowd of people began to go back to their seats, either not caring enough to keep pursuing the line of questioning, or satisfied with her answer. The bus driver gave her one last look before getting up and walking back up to the front of the bus.

Frisk was glad that the problem seemed to sort itself out with minimal interaction with the other humans on the bus. She got up and made her way back to her seat, face still brimming with red.

_“…”_

Chara said nothing, but Frisk could tell she was stewing in her own rage. She was probably angry at Frisk from seeing her memories, but she said nothing about Frisk’s viewing of the latest one.

Frisk began to wonder about the two dreams she had just seen were all about. She was so used to seeing her own horrible memories, but now she was seeing Chara’s. She wondered if maybe Chara was growing weaker, and maybe even losing her grip more and more as time went on. It was all she could hope for.

_“Dream on, idiot. I hope you fall again and crack you head open. Then you’ll have to reset. I’ll get what I want one way or another, Frisk.”_

Frisk grimaced, but said nothing, looking out the window as the bus started back up and joined with the rest of the traffic. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the bus driver talking on the phone. He kept glancing at Frisk suspiciously, and she caught him staring; a shiver went up her spine.

_“…I don’t like this.”_

Chara hissed dangerously.

_“Bail, Frisk. Get out of here. He’s planning something.”_

Frisk tried to wave off the emotion. It was fine; he was probably still worried about her.

_“No, Frisk, you don’t understand. Humans are, they’re, he’s planning something…something **bad.** I just know it. You can’t trust them…”_

Frisk saw a flash of a man standing above her, holding a knife threateningly. She snapped back to reality instantly, heart pumping and palms sweaty. She was about to ask, but Chara thundered out at her.

_“JUST GO! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!”_

Frisk was too shocked to leave her seat, not really wanting to jump out of a moving vehicle again. She tried to ignore Chara’s yelling as she began to lose it once more, acting just like she had seen in her latest dream.

She stayed there paralyzed for longer than she cared to count when the bus came to a halt. She snapped back to herself, able to drown out Chara’s voice somewhat as she looked around. The bus was stopped at a bus stop and a couple of people stood up and got off. She let out a sigh, having almost expected something more disturbing, given how frantic and paranoid Chara was acting.

She heard a siren close by and felt her blood go cold—or was that Chara’s fault?

A cop car pulled up to the bus and the bus driver shot her a look again before getting up and leaving, coming down the bus steps to meet with two burly-looking police officers.

_“Frisk…please…”_

Chara’s weak voice sounded in Frisk’s head, alarming her more than the screaming had.

_“Don’t let them catch you.”_

The bus driver pointed at the bus and Frisk realized they were talking about her. The bus driver had probably thought she was a runaway and called the cops like any concerned citizen would. Paling at the thought of the police taking her in and calling Toriel, or worse, _Sans_ , Frisk slowly got up, shaking slightly. She swung her backpack over her shoulder and turned around.

The policemen started to approach the bus, ready to walk up the steps.

_“Go out the back. Run as fast as you can.”_

Frisk willed her legs to move forward. She could have sworn she heard one of the passengers ask her if she was ok, but she could barely hear over the pounding of her own heart in her ears. Then suddenly, she bolted forward to the back of the bus, prying the emergency handle up and wrenching the door open.

“Hey kid, wait!”

Frisk heard shouts of passengers and possibly the police officers as well, but didn’t look back as she leapt out of the bus. She hit the ground a lot harder than she wanted to, but took off running full speed.

Frisk’s feet slammed against the pavement unrelentingly as she ran further into the concrete jungle. She wasn’t even sure if the police were even bothering to chase after her anymore. The sun was starting to set, though, and she was starting to feel a chill in the air.

To her, the time spent on the bus had gone rather quickly, but in reality, several hours had passed, pitting her nearly in the twilight hours of the evening. She thought that perhaps she was in the next town over considering how different this one looked to hers. The buildings seemed to be farther apart and yet more threatening with how they loomed over her.

Frisk slowed down to catch her breath, which had grown ragged from exertion. Her stomach growled loudly as she scrapped herself up next to a wall in a particularly foreboding alley. There were people, either homeless or thugs lurking around, talking about things Frisk couldn’t quite care to comprehend. It filled her with a great sense of apprehension, and she prayed that no one would come over to bother her, suddenly feeling very vulnerable—even Chara appeared to shrink back in her head—she felt her way along the wall and squeezed next to a dumpster. It wasn’t the most sanitary of things, but it shielded her from the wind and the eyes of the humans shambling around in the alley.

Her stomach let out another growl as she took her backpack off and rummaged through it for some food. Her eye happened to catch sight of the gleam of the knife she stashed in her sack and felt a shiver go up her spine. A snicker of satisfaction arose from inside as Chara felt Frisk’s reaction, though she said nothing, letting her host comprehend her own reaction. Frisk pushed it aside and grabbed a can of soup, ripping open the lid and drinking the contents savagely.

It was cold and sat in her stomach like a rock, but at least she wasn’t hungry anymore.

Some of the bickering humans in the alley began to encroach upon her, and tired from her running around, Frisk couldn’t convince herself to move. Their eyes roamed over her as they passed by, whispering something that she couldn’t hear. Was it about her? She was tired and didn’t think she could care at the moment. She shivered; not just from fear and uncertainty, but from the cold wind that picked up. She eyed the strangers walking by warily, the influence of Chara in her spurring her to be extra suspicious. When they were gone, Frisk rummaged through her backpack for an extra sweater and put it on, feeling its fluffy warmth being the only comforting thing in the foreboding, dark alley.

The only sounds left in the backstreet were just from a few persons a distance away, their whispers carried on the wind. They weren’t her family. They weren’t the usual whispers or clanking dishes she would hear while getting ready for bed.

But it was enough to lull her to sleep.

* * *

 

_“Hey there little girl, where do you think you’re going?” A tall figure stood over her, his face obscured by the streetlamp behind him._

_Frisk was startled all at once._

_What was going on? Where was she?_

_She seemed to be standing in the street of a suburban neighborhood, a backpack slung over her shoulder. White picket fences lined the sidewalks in the picturesque vicinity, but this place she was in was far more ominous with the man staring at her predatorily._

_She didn’t recognize this place at all._

_The man walked closer, rounding on Frisk slowly. She felt her body back away slowly, realizing that she was inhabiting Chara again, and let out a gasp when she saw the knife in his hand._

_“What’s your name, little girl?” He stepped closer._

_“L-leave m-me alone, please.” Frisk heard Chara’s tiny voice squeak out, her body shaking as she tried to put distance between herself and the shadow-y man._

_He chuckled in an unsettling way. What was wrong with this guy? What did he want? Why was he coming closer? Why was he holding that knife up?_

_Frisk felt tears fall down her face as her eyesight began to blur._

_“P-please, I’m just p-passing through; I don’t want any t-trouble.” Her voice was cracking and breaking as she backed up, preparing to run._

_“Heh. Sure, kid. Aw, why are you crying?” He held up the knife. “You afraid of this?”_

_Chara wasted no time, turning on her heel and bursting into a run. She let out a sob when she heard heavy footsteps and cackling laughter behind her._

_“Where you going, kiddo? Come play with me!”_

_His presence was right behind her, Chara began screaming for help, his hand roughly grabbed her hair and threw her down onto the pavement._

_“Now, now. Don’t run. That’s not very nice.” He was standing above her, knife in hand. “There’s nowhere to go, little girl. So let’s have some fun.” A smile dripped from his face as he leaned closer to Chara, so close she could smell his rancid breath._

_His knife pressed into her stomach and she screamed._

_The scenery shifted around her suddenly, bringing her into an empty, white-walled room._

_She was sitting down next to a padded wall, leaning up to it, the only sounds in the room her breathing. Her body tried to move her arms—they wouldn’t budge. Her host refused to move her eyes, so all Frisk could see was the room and the fluorescent light reflecting off of the saturated white. Her head was swimming, in what she didn’t know, but it made thinking difficult for her._

_For a moment, Frisk wondered if she was in the loony bin._

_“…yes, this patient is suffering from extreme psychosis brought on by assault.” A voice sounded outside of her door. Another spoke._

_“Assault, sir?”_

_“Allegedly she was walking down a neighborhood street in the late hours of the morning when she was assaulted by an unidentified assailant. He, well, I won’t go into the specifics of the wounds, but it was pretty bad. Almost lost her. One of the residents heard her screams and came out, scared the attacker off.”_

_“So why is she here, sir? Why has she been in confinement?”_

_“Well, she’s under the extreme delusion that anyone in her presence is an attacker and will hurt her. The hospital sent her here because every time she would wake up in the hospital room, she would lash out and attack the staff. As soon as she healed, they booted her to us, and we’ve had her under heavy sedation ever since. But we keep the straight jacket on just in case. We’ve had one of our staff members almost lose a finger because they weren’t careful.”_

_“So what’s the treatment plan?”_

_“Drugs. Sedatives to keep her from lashing out again. Then maybe when she’s in her right state of mind we can go through some therapy.”_

_The voices shifted in and out as Frisk struggled to concentrate on what they were saying. Her head hurt, her body hurt, she felt like screaming. She wanted to stop seeing what Chara had been through._

_It wasn’t fair for Chara to experience any of these things. No one should have._

_But her thoughts swirled more, turning into a chaotic cacophony as the room spun in and out._

* * *

 

Frisk woke with a start, shooting up quickly from her spot on the hard ground. She was panting and sweating a bit as she steadied herself. Glancing around quickly, her memories came flooding back.

That’s right, she ran away from her home, her family, her life, because of—

 _“Stay out of my memories Frisk!”_ Chara’s voice tore through her head like a freight train, blasting any nostalgia from her mind. Frisk tried to assert that it wasn’t her fault, that it was just happening, that she thought that maybe Chara was showing her them on purpose.

 _“SHUT UP, FRISK! You need to stay out of my head!”_ Chara continued to screech, forcing Frisk into reviewing her own memories of killing her family. The mental onslaught was overpowering and she clutched at her head as she witnessed every horrible recollection that she had. _“Serves you right! You should have reset! Why didn’t you reset!? You should have killed him! You should have—“_

Chara fell silent suddenly, retreating back into Frisk’s mind.

The moment of clarity brought Frisk out of her spiraling and she looked up. There were people in the alleyway looking at her with concern and disgust.

“What the hell is wrong with her?”

“Such a shame, she’s so young.”

“I think she might be sick in the head.”

Their whispers filled the air like a thick stench and Frisk quickly ducked down to pick up her backpack and tried to regain some semblance of sanity.

 _“W-we need to get out of here, Frisk, we need to leave…”_ Chara’s voice was shaking from fear. For a brief moment, Frisk considered staying in front of all the humans. _“You fool, don’t you know, don’t you know what they can do? We need to go, we need to, need to, please…”_

A recollection that wasn’t hers briefly fluttered into her head: those same sterile white walls, her body being connected to a machine with a hundred wires, shockwave after shockwave going through her body, the words “your fellow humans are friends” and “you are peaceful” being repeated like a mantra to her.

Frisk could tell they were breaking down, both her and Chara, and tore out of the alley as fast as she could.

A hard day past and went; Frisk spent it wandering around the city, trying to see if there was a library she could hole up in and pass the time, with Chara screaming at her the entire time about resetting and how stupid of a decision wandering around a human-filled city was. She woke up behind a fast food restaurant, most likely having passed out from exhaustion. She was thankful her things were still with her as she demolished two granola bars.

A thought occurred to Frisk as she was walking down the side of the road, cars zooming by, heading to destinations unknown. Chara was a violent creature, clearly human at this point, but a deranged one ( _“Takes one to know one, Frisk.”_ ), and she was obviously violent in her past and in the Underground, attacking both people and monsters, but now she was fearful, recoiling into the recesses of Frisk’s mind whenever there was a large gathering of people.

Frisk could sense a feeling of revulsion from the question, and prepared for another session of Chara screaming at her for her to mind her own business.

But she did not.

 _“You want to know why, foolish Frisk?”_ If she had the ability to scowl, Frisk felt it. _“We don’t have any LOVE.”_

Frisk wanted to ask why not—had they not murdered enough in previous timelines?

 _“You know, I’ll tell you…If you reset.”_ Chara smirked.

Frisk shook her off, which only seemed to agitate her more.

 _“The longer you put it off, the worse it’s going to be for us both.”_ Chara sneered at her, her voice grating on Frisk, as it had been doing for the past day.

Frisk was starting to get used to the abuse, the constant screaming, and the horrible things Chara would make her see. For a moment, Frisk thought maybe she was losing her mind.

_“You know, you really should reset—“_

No. absolutely not. Frisk would never reset. Never.

_“Now hear me out. If you reset, you can go back to the beginning and befriend your family all over again. Think about it. They wouldn’t remember any of this, it be a fresh new start. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?”_

Frisk was tempted. If she reset, she wouldn’t have to deal with any of this, she wouldn’t have to run away; she could be a real family with everyone. Even Sans. Maybe even Sans wouldn’t remember killing her, maybe she wouldn’t remember trying to kill him. Maybe she would lose her memory again—she could stop seeing all these grotesque images. Maybe even Chara wouldn’t be in her anymore…

She snapped back to reality, realized almost too late that her hand had been reaching out to a familiar light, and panicking, she slapped her hand away from it.

_“Tch. Idiot.”_

Frisk wanted to agree. What a stupid mistake that would have been. She sighed and straightened her backpack on her shoulders. She was starting to feel stiff and achy from all the walking and weird sleeping postures she had been in. But this was her life now, might as well have gotten used to it.

After walking around the dingy city for so long, eating nothing but cold food, Frisk was starting to feel as though she was losing her energy and vitality. She unpacked and tore into another granola bar, feeling the sugary sweet bite do nothing to satiate her hunger. She missed Toriel and Papyrus’ cooking desperately. They would always make sure she had gotten a well-balanced meal and seconds, as she wanted. It was starting to get late now, and Frisk, not that Chara would let her have a decent sleep, needed to find some place to settle for the night. She did not need to be out in the city past darkness. She sighed, and steeled herself for another night of sleeping behind a dumpster.

 

* * *

 

_Patience._

_That’s what Frisk felt as she came to. It was such a strong feeling—rivaling her own determination and she was drawn to it._

_She looked down, not really feeling a body, but feeling like she was still present, or as present as one could feel in a dream-like state._

_Frisk heard a sudden thud and wheeled around, in shock as she saw a small girl, maybe a few years younger than herself, trip over her own feet. The little girl’s head was adorned in a beautiful cyan ribbon that perched happily on her hair, and in her hand, a small fake-looking plastic knife. She wore a light blue skirt that reached her mid-calf, and a small white blouse on her torso. She had fear in her eyes as she got back up, holding back tears. Frisk recognized the knife and ribbon belatedly and could have screamed. This girl was the second human to fall._

_“Hey there, little one.” Frisk heard herself speak, but recognizing the voice as Chara’s. Was she possessing Chara yet again? But how? She didn’t have a body, did she?_

_The little girl wheeled around to face Frisk and gasped._

_“Wh-who’s there?” Her voice was delicate as she squeaked out the words, unsure of herself._

_“Looks like you took quite the fall. Why don’t I help you get out of here?”_

_“U-um... I…Will you really help me get out of here?”_

_“Sure. Just do as I say, and we’ll both get out.”_

_What was Chara planning? But deep down Frisk already knew. The fact that she had found this girl’s item already in the underground, it told her everything._

_This girl would never get out._

_The memories around Frisk blurred, and suddenly she was watching the little girl get impaled on a vegetoid’s attack; her blood spraying the ground around her, making it seem like she had wings of red. She was far too patient; waiting for the monsters that attacked her to stop attacking._

_The scenery blurred around her, and the next thing she felt, was a strong sense of Bravery._

_His bandana and gloves were the first thing Frisk noticed, their striking orange color jumping out at her._

_“What are you, chicken?” Her voice, Chara’s voice, screamed at him. Frisk turned to see what the small roughed-up-looking boy was peering at in recoil. “You’ve already murdered quite a few monsters; this one should be no problem at all.”_

_“N-no. He-he’s a dog. I can’t hurt a dog—he looks like mine—“ The boy, maybe slightly older than Frisk, a dusty powder covering his body, stammered out._

_A large, squinty eyed dog stared back at him, complaining about movement—it was Doggo, the first dog sentry Frisk had faced. Chara was quick to pipe up._

_“So you ARE chicken. Some brave hero of humans you turned out to be. I’m surprised you’ve made it this far with how cowardly you are, fool.”_

_The boy snapped._

_“I’ll show you how brave I am, Chara!”_

_He dashed at Doggo, but it was over in seconds, his broken body sent flying toward the ground, unmoving and lifeless._

_Frisk blinked, and then was staring into the face of an older girl, who emitted an air of Integrity. She was staring down Aaron, her ballet shoes and tutu standing out the most, appearing to question an order Chara just gave._

_“I know you’ve not wanted to hurt anyone else due to your ‘integrity’ and ‘honor,’ but this monster,” Chara spoke, a smirk playing on her features, “This one is different. Can’t you tell? You should fight back; otherwise, he’ll kill you.”_

_The girl said nothing, but prepared to fight back, it seemed for the first time._

_She too, fell, her body fallen into a heap on the ground._

_Frisk felt Perserverance._

_She saw a girl wearing spectacles and wielding a torn up notebook._

_Chara urged her on, screaming and challenging her, hitting all of her mental weakspots._

_She was fighting Undyne, refusing to run from the fight, perservering to the end._

_She fell, her body impaled on a powerful spear._

_Then Kindness._

_A boy with an apron and a frying pan._

_Chara, frustrated, trying to get the kind soul to fight back._

_The boy refused to fight, only offering kindness._

_He burned to death, hugging a Vulkin he befriended._

_Justice._

_A boy, hat and pistol, covered with the most powder and blood of the six, walking up to a pre-MTT hotel._

_Chara satisfied; she sat back and enjoyed the onslaught._

_A bright blue eye, a skeletal face._

_Sans’s murderous expression._

_The boy, fallen, barely any of his body left._

_These memories blurred and fizzled about Frisk, who wanted desperately to vomit, knowing that she used the same weapons and items these children had brought down with them, and now she was seeing how they perished, pushed to try to be determined by Chara._

_And then suddenly, Frisk saw herself, newly fallen from above._

_She felt her own Determination. It was powerful, maybe more so than how she currently was, maybe even more than Chara’s._

_Frisk watched herself look around, meeting Flowey, getting rescued by Toriel (her heart nearly broke from seeing her mother pick her up), and being led further into the ruins. Yet, Chara did not pursue her, did not whisper terrible things to her, did not try and provoke her._

_Why?_

_Frisk didn’t understand, but felt something stir inside of Chara’s ethereal incorporeal form. Was it…fear? Was she afraid of Frisk’s overwhelming determination?_

_Chara said nothing, but followed the flashback-Frisk throughout her journey, watching her fight Toriel and leave, watching her befriend Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, and then finally face Asgore._

_These were memories Frisk did not recall. When had this happened? She didn’t remember fighting Asgore, she didn’t remember him stabbing her with his trident repeatedly, and she didn’t remember nearly mortally wounding Asgore, a terrifying fear etched all in her features, as she then watched the fallen king be destroyed by a massive hulking beast with writhing tentacles._

_This must have been a timeline prior to even the murdering spree she went on._

_She watched in horror, and felt the satisfaction creep up in Chara, as the Determination of the flashback Frisk began to wane. The little girl below them shook visibly as her face contorted into a scream._

_The beast lunged, striking her fast and harshly with one of its’ many appendages. Frisk felt ghost pain as she watched herself be impaled on the tendrils._

_“KID!”_

_Frisk turned to see none other than Sans, a panicked look on his face come running, the same giant skeletal heads that tormented her with their blasts razing away at the beast, the detonations blowing it away._

_Frisk felt a seething rage spawn from within Chara. And then, satisfaction as she looked onto the fallen Frisk, who was bleeding out steadily. Chara began to make her descent towards the human._

_“Kiddo? Hey c’mon, kid, say something…” Sans’ pleading voice and the beasts’ writhing filled the room as the former held onto Frisk._

_But Chara had already set herself into the Flashback-Frisk, having taken over her. Frisk was met with the same light she saw upon trying to reset and she heard both Chara and herself whisper out,_

_“See you soon.”_

* * *

 

Frisk woke up to a shaking sensation she wasn’t prepared for. Her eyes snapped open and she bolted up, wide awake.

Her eyes met those of two boys, perhaps older than her, not that she had time to figure it out—both boys were holding onto her backpack, having dumped out the contents onto the ground and were shoveling what seemed valuable into their bags.

Everyone froze.

Frisk’s eyes caught onto the knife still in the side pocket of her pack and her breath hitched.

_“Grab it, Frisk.”_

She lunged for the pack and the sudden movement caused the boys to recoil backwards, dropping her things. Clumsily, Frisk tore the knife out of the side pocket and felt a glare creep up on her face. How _dare_ these two idiots rifle through her things. She felt her rage bubble up inside, but felt it wither when the two boys pulled out switchblades of their own.

Both boys were dirty-looking, with torn clothes and scabs (most likely from fighting) covering their arms and legs. Now that Frisk had a moment to look closer, she could distinctly see that one boy was younger than the other and a little shorter too. The taller of the two spoke.

“Don’t pull a knife on my brother.”

_“They were the fools who tried to steal from us. They deserve it, Frisk.”_

Frisk said nothing, stricken by a sudden visual of Sans and Papyrus. She lowered her knife ever so slowly. She couldn’t hurt these two boys, even if she wanted to. They were probably hungrier than she was and needed the food more. Frisk was about to extend a hand of peace, when Chara screamed into her head.

_“YOU FOOL! These two idiots are the ones stealing from us! Do something about it!” She railed, making Frisk wince in pain. The two boys stared back at her, ready to fight, it seemed. “Fight them Frisk. We can take them. They’re only children. When we kill them, we can gain back our LOVE that we lost.”_

But Frisk couldn’t. Not to children, not to humans, not to monsters, not to anybody.

She lowered her knife completely and stood up straight. She was tired of all the violence and despair that Chara was causing. If she could help it, she wouldn’t let others face it.

The older boy looking ready to slash at her at any moment, she reached down and picked up a granola bar, offering it to them. Both boys seemed to relax somewhat, and looked at each other nervously. Frisk merely smiled and stepped forward, reaching to hand the food to one of them. She could feel Chara seething from within, but ignored it, feeling determined to do the right thing.

The taller boy stepped forward hesitantly, throwing a look of caution back to the smaller one, before reaching out to take the bar from Frisk.

“…Thank you—“ And then he let out an agonizing scream as Frisk’s knife suddenly made its’ way into the center of his hand. The smaller boy immediately dropped his knife and ran to his brother’s side, tears welling up in his eyes.

 _“You shouldn’t have tried to steal from me, fool.”_ Chara’s vicious voice filled the air and the two boys’ eyes snapped up to her in fear.

Frisk could feel a smirk creep up on her face. She could feel her hands shaking in anticipation as she began to lose control—not in a dream, but in reality. She looked down at the two boys, so weak and fragile, preparing to unleash another blow, but with a feral tenacity she wasn’t sure she had, she broke out of Chara’s hold.

She felt like screaming, like apologizing and crying and comforting and dying, so many emotions swirled within, but she couldn’t bear to keep watching the boy bleed so profusely. She tried to apologize, stooping down to maybe help the boy she just stabbed, but the smaller shoved her back, causing her to fall on her back. He quickly turned around, grabbing his knife and tried to swing at her.

She rolled to the side, but not quick enough and got caught on her arm, the knife slashing deeply into her skin. The boy recoiled, maybe surprised to see her blood, and Frisk took that moment to leap back, grabbing her backpack and sprinting away as quickly as she could.

 _“We could have taken them, Frisk. We could have gotten some LOVE back.”_ Chara hissed at her, her anger and dissatisfaction welling up inside of Frisk.

When Frisk got a fair distance away, breathing labored, heart beating rapidly, arms and legs shaking, she collapsed. She could recall stabbing her family in her dreams, or those memories Chara kept showing her, but she had actually stabbed someone. She actually stabbed a child, and she felt it. She had felt the blade tear through flesh and bone, saw the blood geyser out, heard the screams. It was all real.

And now she had new memories to play back into her head. Over and over again.

Knife still in hand, she threw it with disgust away from her. Why had she brought that thing along in the first place? She hissed with the motion, her arm hurting from where she was cut. It had long since stopped gushing, but was still oozing a thick red color. Dried blood coated her arm, having dried from the running she did. Sighing, she tore off a piece of her pants and tied it around her arm to keep it from bleeding anymore. Making a mental note to find a bathroom and take proper care of her cut, she propped herself up against a nearby alley wall, trying to calm herself down.

She had no idea for how long she had run. Maybe an hour? Maybe two? Time seemed to flow weirdly now that she was out on her own. Peeking into her backpack, she let out a groan. She now had no food, clothes, or anything. Only an empty backpack.

She was suddenly filled with the very real concern that she could die in the city.

The wind seemed to pick up, chilling her with a fresh gust of autumn air. She shivered.

Frisk missed her bed.

She missed her room.

She missed her family.

She missed the hugs from Toriel.

She missed Papyrus’ cooking.

Undyne’s fighting lessons.

Alphys’ anime nights.

Sans.

She missed Sans and his puns.

Frisk wished she had just told Sans the truth when he asked. Maybe he could have helped her, maybe he could have saved her. He cared about her, just wanted to help her. Why had she been so stubborn? Why didn’t she just tell him she was having terrible nightmares? Then she wouldn’t have been out in the city all on her own, wouldn’t have gotten her stuff taken, wouldn’t have gotten stabbed, wouldn’t be cold or hungry.

Because Sans was trash.

He hurt her and she knew it, deep down, really.

She made the wise decision of staying away and being wary of the Smiley-Trashbag. He was only going to hurt her further. He was only going to make her die over and over again.

In fact, she should just reset. If she reset, she can just go back and make sure Smiley-Trashbag never had the chance to—

Frisk broke out of her reverie as she lurched forward. She was barely nodding off—where had those thoughts come from!?

_“Oh, wow. For a second there, you were starting to sound like **me**.”_

Frisks eyes widened as Chara let out a giggle. There was no way.

_“C’mon. You know you’ve always been like this. Why do you think I’ve stuck around with you so long?”_

No, Frisk thought defiantly. She was not always like this. She was kind, she was a good kid, she loved her family, she always tried to do her best—

_“Tch. Just keep lying to yourself then…”_

Frisk let out a breath of air in frustration. She wished Chara would just leave. Why couldn’t she find peace or something? Why couldn’t she just leave everyone alone?

_“Don’t play dumb. You’ve **seen** my memories. You know exactly why.”_

Frisk didn’t. Surely being attacked by a stranger was a horrible and traumatizing thing to go through, but wasn’t worth putting the lives of others in danger just because she couldn’t get over her past—

_“Let me tell you something, Frisk. I’ve gotten over my past. In fact, I’ve learned a great deal from it. Here’s what I’ve learned: Monsters, Humans, it doesn’t matter; there are no happy endings, no happy families, no happy childhoods, nothing. And if that happiness is unobtainable, then why exist at all? I’m doing the world a favor—I’m even doing **you** a favor by trying to end it all.”_

Frisk didn’t know what to say. But she knew that ending the world was impossible. Chara didn’t have the power to do so.

 _“You’re an idiot. Of course **you** wouldn’t know. But I’ll tell you, you know why? Because in the end, we **will** be resetting.” _Chara sneered out, pausing for effect. _“You remember when Asriel became Omega Asriel? He did it by absorbing the six souls. If he became that powerful from just those kids’ souls, imagine how powerful **we** would be with our LOVE, the six souls, and our own two souls. We would be the rulers of time and space, free to create and destroy as we wish. Frisk, we could end all the suffering, end all the pain of everyone. Hell, we could even go back and stop the war, if you so choose. This is the best plan. It’s the only one that will let us have a happy ending.”_

Frisk was silent, disbelief soaking her through. Chara was mad.

And Frisk couldn’t stop her.

But she wondered if there was ever a time when Chara was happy. She wondered what Chara’s family would think of her horrible plan. She wondered what Toriel or Asgore or Asriel would think of her now.

 _“They wouldn’t care. They’re either dead, or have long forgotten about me.”_ She paused, almost as if in contemplation, maybe even hesitation. _“It doesn’t matter anyway. This world **will** be destroyed, Frisk. All of it.”_

Instead of fear and disgust, Frisk was filled with a sense of wanting to help Chara, destroying things wasn’t going to fix anything. Chara needed to face her past, to come to terms with it, to grow from it and realize that it didn’t need to shape her future, she could have overcome it—

But Chara exploded with rage.

_“You’ve **seen** what was done to me; you’ve seen what those humans can do! You’ve seen what those monsters can do! Do you really think any of them deserve second chances?! No! They all deserve to die! Every single one of them! And it will be us doing it, Frisk! We’ll be the ones in command!”_

Her anger seethed and boiled like a storm, enveloping Frisk in madness as she raged on, screaming and crying out.

But Frisk stayed determined.

She had been able to see into Chara’s past thus far, see the terrible things she had been through, the things she had done—there had to have been a moment when Chara was happy. Maybe if she remembered it, maybe even a little, it could soothe her, and Frisk could reason with her.

 _“Stop, Frisk!”_ Chara had caught on.

But Frisk dug, willing herself to see into Chara’s mind, willing herself to pull out the depths of her memories.

_“STOP!”_

The familiar fuzzy feeling was back; Frisk descended into a memory.

* * *

 

_“Mom! Dad!”_

_A bright light shone from above, temporarily blinding Frisk. She squinted, rather, felt Chara squint her eyes as they began to focus the scenery before her. A picturesque salmon-pink house stood tall in a neighborhood of similar-looking houses, with each surrounded by white picket fences and a garden of some kind in the front. It seemed like a suburbia out of the fifties, Frisk realized._

_“Good morning, Chara!” A kind-sounding woman’s voice called from over to the side. The woman stood up from her crouching position as she took off the dirty gloves she was using to weed her near-perfect-looking rose garden. A smile played across her thin lips as she brushed a strand of auburn hair out of her face. Chara ran over to her, nearly leaping into her arms as she encircled her mother’s waist with her tiny arms. ”How was breakfast? Sorry we ate without you!”_

_“Nuh-uh, it’s ok, and breakfast was fine.” Frisk could feel her face shift, smiling up at the mother._

_She felt a longing for her family, almost envious of Chara before realizing that she was only witnessing the scene because it was a source of trauma for her._

_“Mornin’ little one!” What Frisk assumed to be Chara’s father’s voice called out and Chara ran to him as he dropped the water hose, stopping to hug his daughter. “How are ya?”_

_“I’m fine, dad! Are we going to work on the front yard today?” Chara beamed up at the man, and Frisk could see his kind eyes, full of parental love, shining down at his daughter. He gave a hearty chuckle, setting Chara back down._

_“Well, of course! We’ve got to have the best looking lawn in the neighborhood, after all. There’s a prize on the line and there’s no way our next door neighbors are going to win ‘Best lawn of the year’ AGAIN. Do you want to help your mother weed the beds while I finish watering the grass?”_

_Chara nodded and ran off, following after her mother as she set back to work._

_The scenery began to change, and Frisk watched, astounded as the tranquility of the scene was interrupted by shouting._

_“You lost it!? You lost it all!?”Chara’s mother’s voice pierced through the house, more shrill than ever thought possible._

_Frisk’s eyes were trained on the ceiling of Chara’s room, unmoving and watery as she lay under the covers of her bed._

_“It wasn’t my fault! Jim said the investment would work!” The father raged back, his loud booming voice nearly shaking the very walls. ”We were going to pay back our debt and have some left over on the side too!”_

_“Yes, and now where is he, **dear**? He’s gone, with all our money! The same money we were going to use to pay back—“_

_“Well how was I supposed to know that Jim was going to up and leave town when things got rough!?”_

_“It was pretty damn obvious, you bastard! Now what will we do!? What are we going to do?! **They** are going to come looking for the money, but we won’t have it! Do you know what happens to people who can’t pay?!” The mother was in near hysterics; Frisk could have sworn she heard something crash._

_Tears were spilling out from Chara’s face, wetting her pillow. She held in a whimper; Frisk could sense she didn’t want her parents to think she was listening._

_“Shut your damn mouth! I’ll…I’ll think of something!”_

_“Oh like what, throwing more of our money into the loo!?”_

_“Bitch! I said shut up! You’re the one who got us into this mess anyway! You and that daughter!” He continued, over the mother’s shrieking protests. “ **YOU** wanted nice things, **YOU** spent it on all that alcohol! **YOU** were the one who wanted Chara to go to that damn preppy school of yours! Costs us so much damn money—money that **I** have to work my ass off every day for!”_

_“Oh you like that, don’t you!? And when you aren’t working you’re off with those no-good friends of yours! Why aren’t you spending time with your daughter!?”_

_“She’s your daughter too! Why aren’t you spending time with her, is it too much to take a break from all those stupid ‘neighborhood watch’ meetings?! A lot of good those do!”_

_“Asshole!”_

_“Bitch!”_

_There was more crashing, as if more things were breaking, and then silence. Neither one spoke for a long time and Chara began to shift uncomfortably under her covers. Frisk was starting to get nervous. What had happened? Did they hurt each other? Were they about to hurt Chara?_

_“What are we going to do?” Finally came the mother’s shaken voice, quiet and barely audible._

_“I…I’ll go talk to them. Maybe, maybe I can…” The father’s voice replied, just as distraught as his wife’s._

_“They’re going to kill us. You know they will.”_

_Chara’s blood ran cold; she was petrified in fear._

_“…There’s a way…that we can end our debt…but it would makes us monsters…”_

_The scenery blurred together once again, and when it reformed, Frisk found herself sitting at the breakfast table, eating a bite of cereal very slowly, aware of the thick tension hanging in the atmosphere._

_Her father’s lips were pursed together tersely as he read the morning paper, staying silent and not making eye contact with anyone._

_The mother was at the sink, washing and rewashing the same dish for what seemed like the entire time she had been standing there, her eyes fixedly looking outside._

_Frisk could feel Chara’s confusion and worry, but hesitation to speak up and question anything. She took another bite of cereal with uncertainty as she looked from her mom to her dad, willing either of them to say something._

_There was a knock on the door and there was silence, even from Chara’s mother, who had stopped momentarily. The knocking continued after a period of silence and finally the two parents gave each other unreadable looks before the mother seemed to burst into tears, but was completely soundless._

_The knocking continued, more urgent._

_“Chara,” the father spoke slowly, not looking at his daughter. “Can you go answer the door?”_

_Chara put down her spoon and swallowed hard._

_“Why? I-I don’t want to.”_

_“Do as I say.”_

_Chara shook her head._

_“It’s something bad, isn’t it?”_

_The knocking turned into banging._

_“Chara,” The father’s eyes locked onto hers and Frisk was at once struck by how different they seemed from the scene before; no longer shining, but dull and angry. Were these truly the eyes of a parent? “Go. Get. The door.”_

_Fear coursed through the little girl and she got up from her seat quickly, but slowed her pace as she approached the front door. She could hear talking from just beyond, but couldn’t make out any words. Slamming on the door shocked her and she opened the door, fear from both the other side and her own dad driving her._

_Three tall men peered down at her, each dressed in nice, expensive-looking business suits._

_“Well, well. There she is.” One spoke, his voice gruff and deep._

_Chara shook and tried to slam the door closed._

_“Whoa, whoa, sweetheart. That’s not very nice. Aren’t you going to invite us in for breakfast?” A second one grabbed the door, Chara’s weak strength doing nothing to budge it._

_“Shut up, let’s just grab the girl and let’s go, before anyone sees us.” The third one snapped roughly, reaching out and grasping for Chara’s arm quickly._

_But Chara snatched her arm away quickly and bolted to the kitchen._

_“Mom! Dad!” She hid behind her dad, who had yet to look up from his paper. “There’s-there’s these men at the front door! They’re trying to kidnap me! Make them go away!” Chara looked helplessly from her dad to her mom, waiting for one of them to reassure her and send the men away._

_Her mother sobbed away, now making strangling crying noises from the sink._

_“You need to go with those men, Chara.” Her dad spoke sternly, so indifferent it sent Chara into hysterics._

_“No, no! I don’t want to!”_

_“Chara, you need to go with them.”_

_“I don’t want to! I don’t-I don’t…Please daddy, don’t make me—“_

_“Problem?” the first suit-clad man was in the doorway, his companions behind him._

_“No, no! No problem. Chara you need to go now.” The father finally looked into his daughter’s terrified eyes._

_“No! No! Please! Daddy, no! I don’t—“_

_She was silenced as his hand connected roughly to her face._

_“Leave.” Harsh were his words, but his eyes were far colder than Frisk had ever seen any human’s._

_“You heard the man, sweetheart.” The second man reached down and grabbed Chara roughly by the arm, nearly yanking it out of the socket as he dragged her to her feet. “Can’t dawdle. That would make the boss unhappy.”_

_“I don’t want to go with you; I want to stay with my mommy and daddy! Please, I don’t want to go!” Chara screamed out, but was silenced with another hand smacking her across the face. She tasted blood, feeling her teeth cut the inside of her cheek from the force of impact._

_“Don’t make me hurt you, kid. So help me I will slap that mouth off your face if you scream like that again.” He drug her to the front door. “Your mommy and daddy don’t want you. They sold you, that’s why you’re coming with us.”_

_The blood drained from Chara’s face when she comprehended what the man had said. She froze, only to have her body jerked toward the front door. Her eyes darted from each of the three men, back to the kitchen and began to hyperventilate._

_“No. no. no. no…” Her voice was cracking, the men were corralling her away from her family, and she lost it. With a jerk, she pulled her arm away from the men and dashed back into the kitchen._

_“MOMMY DADDY! Please don’t sell me! Please! I don’t want to leave! I’m so scared! I love you! Please! Don’t make me—“_

_Two of the men were on her at once, punching and kicking her with ferocity. Her vision blurred; she could hardly stay conscious, but she was able to glimpse her parents one last time as they got up and left the room. Her heart broke as she watched, fear etched into her features._

_“He warned you, should’a been a good girl and come quietly!”_

_“Little shit! You need to be taught some manners!_

_Another blow connected, and Frisk thought for sure Chara was going to die._

_But then everything stopped._

_Suddenly, Frisk felt something rip and she was thrown across the room, landing on the linoleum. She suddenly felt in control and shot up to see the frozen image of the two men beating up on a still Chara with the third man motionlessly watching._

_Frisk realized that she was no longer in possession of Chara’s dream-body and that no one had moved for some time._

**_“Frisk.”_ **

_Chara’s voice sounded behind her and Frisk wheeled around to face her. It was an older Chara, not the little girl that Frisk had been possessing in the dreams._

**_“What are you doing in here, Frisk?”_ **

_Her face was contorted in resentment, fists shaking._

**_“Get out.”_ **

_Frisk took a step back as Chara’s eyes began to melt, along with the rest of her body. She blinked, and then she was alone in the room, a sudden heat emanating from ethereal flames that seemed to come from nowhere._

_They burned and Frisk looked at her arms to see the flesh peeling off and burning into cinders. Her heart raced in terror. Pain arced through her body and she screamed._

**_“GET OUT!”_ **

 

* * *

 

Frisk woke up screaming, still feeling as though she was on fire. She slapped at her body in a panic, trying to rid herself of the ghost flames.

What was that?

_What was that?!_

Frisk breathed, feeling her heart in her throat.

That was Chara. She had seen Chara actually happy; she had seen her with her family!

Her parents, they had, they had…

They sold Chara out… they had actually sold out their daughter…

Frisk wanted to vomit. That was so horrible.

_“You.”_

Chara’s voice was accusing and stoic; it was far more threatening than it had ever been thus far.

Frisk held in a breath, trying not to think or envision the terrible things she just saw.

_“ **Frisk.”**_

She could feel the anger writhing from within as Chara processed all that Frisk had seen.

She descended into madness.

_“You little shit. Those are my memories, those were my thoughts, **that was my innocence!** Frisk, I’ll make you pay! You could’ve gotten by with just the other things you’ve pried from me, but **not this one.** I will make you suffer, and suffer, and suffer!”_

As Chara raged on, this one last memory seeming to spark the final straw of both kids’ sanities, Frisk collapsed to the ground, hands on her head, screaming for Chara to stop, that she was sorry, that all she wanted to do was help. Chara needed help! Not this darkness she was trying to become!

She was a good child deep down—she was! This wasn’t the way! Frisk could help her! They could be frie—

 _“SHUT UP FRISK!”_ Chara’s voice a deafening screech, filling her head with a horrid cacophony. _“YOUR DETERMINATION IS NOT STRONGER THAN MINE!”_

And then it all stopped.

There was silence.

Frisk lifted her head and pried her fingers out of her skin, not knowing that she had clenched that hard.

What was wrong?

 _“I just had a thought.”_ Chara was quiet, her voice coated in realization. _“Your determination **isn’t** stronger than mine. Heh. Not anymore. …Heh, heh.” _Her voice broke out into a soft, cryptic chuckle. _“Remember the last timeline? When you **killed your entire family?** That was me. I was able to take control, for the both of us.”_

Frisk heard a ringing sensation, as the background noises began to dissolve, with only Chara’s voice echoing in her head.

_“I only couldn’t up until now, because that determination, the same kind that let you house two souls, is finally waning.”_

Her eyesight began to darken, and then fade.

_“Do you know what that means?”_

Frisk felt the feeling in her limbs go numb.

_“It means this body is mine; once more.”_

She felt a falling sensation.

Falling.

Falling…

…Falling…

Darkness.

* * *

**So, I've got the entire thing finished, but wanted to break this monstrous, 23,000 word chapter up in two.**

**I'll post the last chapter in two days.**

**I'm sorry about the shitty cliffhanger. But, y'know, at least you don't have to wait 3 months for the next update?**


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the story comes to a conclusion

**Before you read this, know that I worked on it so much I lost my understanding of basic english. So if you see any grammatical errors...uh...yeah. BUT YEAH ENJOY THE END!**

**I also want to mention, a friend of mine suggested that I don't release this chapter until 11:59 tonight. But I decided not to be that asshole.**

 

 

* * *

Chapter 6: The End

She didn't know how long she was in the darkness of her own mind. Somehow, through sheer determination, Chara was able to not only take over her body, but push Frisk's consciousness so far into the abyss of her own mind that she could no longer see, feel, or hear anything in the outside world.

But with the last of her determination, she clung onto the ability to reset; that shining light that Chara was no doubt searching for feverishly. She told herself that no matter what, she would _not_ let Chara have it. Chara could take her body, but not the reset.

Was it minutes that passed? Hours? Days?

What was Chara doing?

Was she hurting others?

Was she hurting her family?

Frisk clung tighter to the tiny pinprick of light, the only thing keeping her from losing her mind in the void she drifted through.

She was left with her thoughts; there were plenty.

Over and over, she thought about her family, the ones that she had brutally murdered in the timeline past. Chara said it was her that did it, but Frisk knew better—she was just as guilty. She let it happen. She could have stopped the madness at any moment. And she thought of Chara.

Chara hadn't deserved any of the terrible things that happened to her. They weren't her fault, but she still fell into rage and darkness, becoming a beast and hurting others.

The images of Chara's past played across the abyss; Frisk watched on, unable to do anything else.

Frisk wondered if Chara and Asriel hadn't plotted to break the barrier that maybe Chara wouldn't be the deranged creature she was currently. She wondered if Toriel and Asgore had given her a taste of what a true family was. Maybe Chara was happy with them? Maybe they gave her enough love to save her? But then when she possessed Asriel and the humans attacked, Frisk supposed that that pushed her over the edge finally and sent her on her murderous rampage.

The visage shifted violently to the memories of Frisk stabbing and slashing at her friends, her family, all of the innocent monsters.

Toriel…

Papyrus…

Undyne…

Alphys…

Sans…

Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Perseverance, Kindness, Justice; the six human children that came before her, and also fell victim to Chara's madness.

Frisk felt regret at not being stronger, not being able to stand up to Chara, not telling Toriel.

Not telling Sans…

She missed her family so much. She wished she could go back to them. For a moment of haze, frisk thought about resetting, just so she could see them again, but shook the want off, knowing that it would play into Chara's plan.

She wished she could hug her mother, cook with Papyrus, play-fight with Undyne, watch anime with Alphys…she even wanted to see Sans again. She wanted him to read stories to her like he did to Papyrus and her when they couldn't sleep. She wanted him to hug her with his strange warm-yet-skeletal body.

Her mind conjured up an image of them both trying to kill each other, Sans' gleaming eye staring her down with unbridled hatred. She remembered the singed flesh, the cracking of bones, with voice growling at her.

She regretted much.

She wondered if her family knew what she had done.

She wondered if Sans told them all the atrocities she committed. If he did, and they hated her for it, she knew she deserved it.

Frisk let Chara win; so this was her punishment: uncertainty and an eternity with all of her sins.

**RESET**

The word echoed all around her, beckoning her to summon a reset.

But she held on with all that she had.

She cried out for someone to save her, for Chara to stop, but there was nothing except the images of her past self's ravenous appetite for death.

They taunted her, and Frisk knew that it was Chara's way of trying to wheedle the last bit of determination away, so she could tear the ability to reset from Frisk's hands.

**RESET**

Again the words echoed, reverberating off the invisible walls of Frisk's prison.

She couldn't take much more.

**RESET**

She was losing her will, her hope, her determination…

**RESET**

She wanted her family more than anything. She wanted to be safe in her bed with her family.

**RESET**

Her grip on the tiny light that kept her suspended in the timeline began to slip.

She messed up this reality…she could just make a new one…

As she was mentally bracing herself for the light of a new time to envelope her, she felt the darkness stir uncomfortably.

Holding on, her eyes connected to a small divot of light shining through the abyss. What was going on? The light was bright, bright enough to make Frisk squint the eyes she wasn't entirely sure she had.

She felt something she hadn't felt in a long time: hope.

Moving closer to the light, she looked out, and heard a voice that made her cry in relief.

_"Hey kiddo, wake up."_

Sans.

It was Sans! He came for her!

She took a moment to recoil in terror; maybe he came to kill her, but she shook the thought away. Sans didn't sound angry, he sounded gentle and just as relieved as Frisk.

The light pin-prick became bigger as Frisk felt more hopeful, and then she saw him: he was ragged, with dark rings around his eye-sockets, his ever-present grin cracking with a timid hope. His features gave him away as a skeleton that had spent days scouring everywhere looking for her.

She called out to him.

But it was not her voice that sounded out.

 _"Sans!"_ It was Frisk's voice, controlled by Chara, who had put on a sickly-sweet tone to mask her true intentions, which, Frisk could now feel full force emanating from her.

_"Kid, are you ok? Did Chara hurt you?"_

Sans.

Frisk wished to call out to him. She willed it so hard; she cried out for him to save her, for Chara to stop. She could see what Chara was planning, she could feel it; she could hear the sinister laughter in the back of Chara's mind.

Sans' skeletal hands encircled Frisk's chin and she felt a simultaneous feeling of reassurance and disgust. She could feel his worried gaze upon her, looking to make sure she was ok.

 _"Uh, that cut on your arm, what happened? Are you ok?"_ He sounded as though he was trying to hide how scared and worried he actually was as he wore his usual grin.

But it was cracking, as though he couldn't keep up the façade any longer.

Frisk, still in a haze of not being in control of her body, but still feeling and seeing what Chara could see, watched as Chara brought Frisk's hands up to meet Sans'.

_"I'm ok."_

Frisk could feel the tension as Chara tried to make her voice match Frisk's tone as much as possible, but heard the sweetly sick audio of Chara's sad attempt, as though it was nails on a chalkboard.

 _"I've just been through a lot."_ Chara attempted to cover up how off her voice sounded, matching Frisk's.

Sans' grin faltered just a little bit, and for a moment Frisk wondered if he knew.

She wondered if he knew there was something very wrong about her.

 _"I was scared. I missed you, and Papyrus, and Toriel, and everyone else."_ Frisk felt her mouth twist into what she supposed was a sad smile as crocodile tears filled her eyes.

_"…y'know, I looked everywhere for you. We've, uh, all been worried."_

Frisks' hands gently pulled Sans' down and she could feel a wave of anticipation as Chara pulled the short skeleton in for a hug, which he was more than happy to oblige.

 _"Wait."_ Sans pulled away, and Frisk could feel Chara's breath hitch, the tension inside of her building to an earth-shattering crescendo. Frisk was all of a sudden very aware of the knife she had long discarded in her back pocket. _"What happened to Chara?"_

Frisk could feel the hesitation, the twitch Chara gave out as she paused.

_"She's gone. Her determination wasn't as strong as mine. She can't hurt us anymore."_

Sans eyed her, a hint of doubt in his eye-sockets, but he nodded and his grin grew wider.

_"Good. But are you sure you're ok? Uh, your arm's bleeding, y'know?"_

_"It's been a long week, but I'm better, now that you're here. And yeah, I fell down earlier."_ Chara re-initiated the embrace, tugging Sans arms so she could go in for a hug. Sans cocked his skull but held his arms up, letting Frisk's body crash into him.

Frisk screamed as loud as she could, begging Chara to stop.

 _"Shut it. Just shut up. Stay gone like you're supposed to."_ Chara's voice sounded, low and dangerous, thrusting Frisk away from the little space she had to watch Sans.

But she held on, defiant, willing herself to stay, to fight against her captor and try to reach out to Sans.

 _"Reset or I'll kill him; stay down in there, Frisk."_ Chara hissed, the sound filling up the void.

Frisk remained determined, refusing to back down. But her shrieking returned as she felt her arm reach behind her back and grab the hilt of the blade.

No.

Please no.

_"I'm going to do it, Frisk. Just let your pathetic determination go. Just reset, damn you."_

Frisk heard Sans sigh. She felt the blade raise up.

Images of her friends and family surged through her head.

She watched them all die.

**NO.**

She would not let it happen again.

Her own determination surged like a storm from within, enough to catch Chara off guard and she hesitated briefly.

"Huh. I've seen this before." Sans low voice broke the shock of Chara as he ripped her knife away, staring at it in remembrance. "Geez, kid. Not so **sharp** , are ya? You remember how this played out before, right?" His empty eye-sockets stared back at her, a seething rage beginning to stir from within.

"Frisk! What are you doing?!"

She heard Chara's voice call out, plain as day, the masquerade of trying to be Frisk over, as Frisk took back control, forcing her body to stumble back as she fought the influence. She could feel fully her body, she could see completely; Frisk was fighting back.

Frisk could not completely overthrow her, but it was enough for everything to fall into place for Sans, who was staring back at her, his eye on the blade in his hand. Frisk could almost hear the strain and creak of his teeth on each other as he struggled to keep his grin up.

"So, uh, Chara. What the hell are you doing, **controlling my kid**?"

Chara smirked wildly.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Chaos, mayhem. Not that it should matter to trash like you." Chara sneered back at him, her rage bubbling through.

 _"You idiot Frisk, I won't forget this."_ Chara was full of wrath, but Frisk did not back down, determined to not let Chara take back her control, determined to keep her from hurting Sans, or anyone else.

Sans glared back at her, and Frisk felt shivers run down her spine.

"Is she in there?"

"Who? Oh, you mean Frisk?" Chara's smirk widened. She put a finger on her chin, mockingly thoughtful. "Well, gosh, you know, I haven't heard a peep out of her in some time." She giggled, noting the look of horror that glimmered across Sans' expression. "I guess she's gone! Oh please, are you really that surprised though? You let this happen before, too."

Frisk watched as Sans' shook in rage, his ever-present grin twisting into that of a snarl as he stared down the little girl. She wanted to call out to him, tell him she was ok, just…trapped. His expression was scaring her—he looked even more angry than when they fought before.

"Kid." Sans took a step forward; Chara's smirk faltered ever so slightly, but she persisted, standing her ground. His eye began to gleam that frightening cyan color and both girls watched in terror as the beam-shooting skeletal heads began to glimmer into existence.

 _"He's going to kill us, you know. He'll really do it."_ Chara's voice was shaking, but she still had an arrogant sound to her. _"If you don't want to be destroyed again, reset."_

But then Sans' expression relaxed and the blasters disappeared.

"Frisk. Kiddo." He smiled sadly. "C'mon. I know you're in there. There's no way, uh, Chara would win against you again. I mean, you know what's at stake right? You wouldn't just give up your body to her again, right?" Frisk could barely make out a glimmering of water—or was it tears—forming in Sans' eye-sockets. "Say something kid. I need to know you're still alive in there."

Frisk fought Chara for control of her mouth, her lungs, her vocal chords. She desperately wanted to tell Sans she was ok and to not hurt her or Chara.

 _"Save your pity."_ Chara's voice cut into her, like a knife, causing her to recoil momentarily.

Without warning, Chara bounded forward, catching Sans by surprise as she tore the knife out of his hand and leaping away before he could surround her with his blue magic.

Seemingly impressed by her own acrobatics, she laughed manically as she looked back at Sans, who appeared almost as stunned as Chara did that that sneak attack worked.

"Well. Guess that's that." He concluded, summoning his skeletal heads. "I, uh, know I said this before, but…you're really not gonna like what happens next…"

Chara said nothing, but lunged forward again, holding the knife in front of her, ready to stab Sans' eyes out. Beams of energy collided all around her—none being able to touch her as she weaved in and out, striking out at Sans.

Frisk watched on in horror, trying her best to throw off Chara. She wracked her mind for all the images she could think of that would possibly make Chara flinch, or throw her off, but she was so focused on Sans' enraged expression, the massive monstrous head firing energy at her, the heated feeling as they barely missed her sensitive flesh.

 _"That won't work, fool. I've had_ _ **years**_ _to replay those horrible images in my head."_ Chara hissed at her, the reverberations causing enough pain to leave Frisk out of commission for a few moments.

When everything came back into focus, she could hear Chara's taunting voice, and saw Sans' form breathing hard, his energy running out, maybe due to lack of sleep.

"—you holding back, trashbag? **_REALLY?_** You know Frisk is long gone. If you don't kill me, I'll kill **everyone you love.** " Chara giggled, relishing the chaos and destruction and how Sans couldn't seem to get a hit on her.

Sans said nothing, but glowered back at her, summoning a wave of bones to strike out and impale her. Chara effortlessly danced around them, laughing gleefully the entire time. Knife in hand, she slashed down at Sans, only to miss as he teleported away a distance.

Frisk would have paled if she could have; Sans was holding back because of her. He was, right? He cared about her, right?

All of a sudden, Frisk saw him for what he was.

As much as he tried to be as detached from everyone as possible, tried to remain as neutral as possible to every scenario, he felt the impact deeply, maybe even more so than anyone else. He always had a smile on, no matter how painful it was. Even when he knew what Frisk had done, he didn't try to hurt her, he only ever tried to talk to her. He wanted to share her pain in his own way.

He was always looking out for her.

How had Frisk not seen it before?

Why had she been afraid of her friend?

Frisk called out to Sans; she was sorry. She wanted to be saved.

_"Tch. You won't overtake me Frisk, I'm—"_

Chara stopped taunting her; Frisk was suddenly very aware of tears spilling from her face.

Sans' eye-sockets widened visibly.

"Kid?" He called hopefully, dropping his hand down slightly.

She called out again, her voice suddenly cascading through, unable to be stopped by Chara.

 _"What are you_ _ **doing!?**_ _"_ Chara's panicked cry sounded all around Frisk, but she would not be daunted.

Frisk called out again.

_Save her. Please._

" **You are not in control, Frisk."**

Frisk was thrown out of focus, falling back down into the darkness as a black aura engulfed her body, Chara shaking with rage.

Frisk fumbled and stuggled to keep hold of the tiny light that would cause the timeline to cease to exist. Chara's vicious aura was enough to make her wish for death, its' presence so painful and striking against her so fervently Frisk felt as though she was losing her mind for real.

Through a haze of pain and blackness, Frisk was vaguely aware of Sans' and Chara's continual struggle.

Sans lashed out with his skeletal monster heads, their beams singing the ground all around.

Chara fought back, every slash coming closer and closer to Sans' body.

Sans was getting tired. Chara was getting stronger.

Frisk couldn't feel or hear them anymore, lost to the violent whirls of Chara's mental assault.

A thousand magic bones lay all around, Chara having dodged each one, her menacing aura growing stronger by the moment.

Again and again she struck out, finally able to slash away at Sans; the skeleton was barely avoiding each hit, with his Jacket being torn to shreds with each successive swing of the blade.

Frisk suddenly felt a surge of victory as she pushed back up to the pin-prick of light, Chara's momentary lapse in concentration allowing her to resurface.

Sans was worn out, looking sadly up at Chara, saying something that Frisk couldn't quite hear.

What was he saying? Was he trying to talk to her? Or Chara?

She focused in, all of her senses straining to get feeling back.

"You're a fool, Smiley-Trashbag." Frisk could hear Chara's voice rife with a enjoyment. She stared down at Sans heavily breathing figure, victory within her grasp, her grin widening vilely. "You shouldn't have held back. You really should have tried to kill me. Oh well, once trash, always trash."

Frisk could hear now. She panicked. What was she going to do? Sans was about to…about to…

"Kiddo." Sans called out softly. "Hey, uh, if you're in there, now would be the perfect time to come out. Show this punk who you are. C'mon kiddo. You're so much stronger than this." He begged her, tears falling from his empty eye-sockets. He remained on his knees, seemingly too tired to even move. "Please. You can do it. Don't you want to go home? Tor and Pap, everyone's waiting…so please."

"Those are some pretty bad choices for last words, trashbag." Chara sneered, playing with the blade in her hand disinterestedly. "Frisk? Strong? Are you kidding? If she was 'strong,' **we wouldn't be here, now would we?** " She raised the blade up, giving a few practice swings.

"Frisk…" Sans began again, more desperate and hurt. "Aren't you the hero who broke the barrier? Aren't you the one who saved all of us monsters? Sure, you had a rough start…and, uh, the next timeline didn't exactly go…well…but what about this one? You've made Papyrus so happy. You've given Toriel a will to go on…and Alphys and Undyne…you're their friend too…And me…" He hesitated briefly. "You've given me more than my fair share of happiness. Please…I don't want to lose you, kid."

"Ugh." Chara let out a sigh in disgust. "This is getting sad, even for you. I'm done. Frisk," Chara added aloud in a noncommittal manner. "Either reset or I'll kill him. In fact, I'm just going to end him. I don't think I can't take anymore pathetic whining from this trashbag." She grinned wickedly down at Sans, the corners of her mouth stretched as wide as they could go. "Time to end this."

The knife raised and Frisk let out a terrified scream for cessation. She screamed and shouted as much as her ethereal lungs could manage.

No.

No.

**_NO!_ **

How could she let Chara win!?

Why was she so weak!?

All of her friends, her family, she let them die once! And now, because of her, Chara would rise again! She would hurt them—no, she would destroy reality itself! There would be nothing left.

She would never see her family again.

Toriel.

Papyrus.

Sans.

Undyne.

Alphys.

No, she couldn't let that happen. It didn't matter how much determination Chara had, or how much Frisk had. She had to fight back.

She had to save everybody.

With a feral scream she didn't know she had, her mind surged, the feeling in her arms and legs regained, the control over her voice and being returned.

**"Stop it Frisk!"**

Chara screamed out, trying to retake her victim, trying to push Frisk back into the void yet again.

**"Just let me win!"**

But she refused.

**"You're nothing, Frisk!"**

She felt every part of her writhe in pain as Chara's grip on her began to deteriorate and dissolve, the once-human's influence and presence was whipping off of her.

**"Don't you understand I have to do this?!"**

But Frisk wasn't listening, focusing every part of her being on expulsing the parasite from within.

**"I have to…I have to!"**

Frisk fell to her knees, the hard ground telling her she was now present in her rightful body as the purge continued. From far away she could hear Sans' screams. She couldn't understand him, but felt his hands grip her shoulders—yes, her own shoulders, not Chara's, as the last bit of her essence was seized out of Frisk.

**_"Please…"_ **

Chara's presence, like a think black ooze, slithered off of Frisk, defeated. It pooled around her, fallen and disgusting, trying desperately to cling onto Frisk.

**_"I have to destroy everything…I have no happiness. I have nothing…"_ **

Frisk got up to her feet, shaking, as she stepped out of Chara, whose oozing tendrils attempted to catch ahold of Frisk, begging her not to leave.

_"You have your family…I have no one…please…"_

Frisk shot a glance as Sans, who was looking from Frisk to the inky pool on the ground, which was trying to collect itself into the form a small girl, faltering and failing to maintain a humanoid shape. In the center was a small, red, heart-shaped orb, covered in cracks and scratches. It beat pitifully, each beat getting fainter and fainter.

_"My mom and dad…Toriel and Asgore…I miss them so much…Asriel…I'm so sorry…"_

Frisk tried to call out to Chara, but watched, breath hitched, as she saw Sans slowly get to his feet. His eye-sockets were empty and his fists were clenching and unclenching as he shook. Fury was etched into his features, though he still wore his tired smile.

_"I just want to go back…I want to see them again…"_

Sans stood over the small figure and peered down at it with vengeance.

"You. You don't deserve mercy for what you've done." He spoke, low and slowly, hauntingly.

_"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…I just wanted to go back…I just wanted them to love me…"_

"Too late for that." He summoned forth a barrage of bones, floating, waiting for Sans to strike. "You killed everyone. You hurt my family. You hurt Frisk."

_"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"_

Sans hesistated for a moment when Frisk called out to him.

_"I'm sorry…please don't hurt me…please…"_

Spare her.

Chara wasn't worth the LOVE or EXP. For the first time in a long while, Frisk was meeting Sans head-on, and looking him right in the eye-sockets unflinchingly as she moved in front of Chara.

_"Please don't kill me…please don't hurt me. Mommy…daddy…"_

Sans looked down at his feet and then back up at Frisk, a solemn expression on his face.

"Look kid. I'm going to do what I have to do to make sure she doesn't hurt you, or anyone else ever again." Sans tried to put a hand on her shoulder to move her out of the way, but Frisk remained, staring up at him with that same look of determination she had long ago.

_"Frisk…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"_

She told him that she couldn't help it. She was broken. Betrayal from her parents, torture from strangers, the mental institute, watching Asriel die…they short circuited her, made her into something she wasn't—a beast. She didn't deserve to be killed.

_"Please…don't hurt me…"_

Frisk turned to look at Chara, the inky mass of coagulation that was still on the ground, writhing and weeping to itself in misery. That black ooze, she realized was merely the manifestation of Chara's inner darkness. She covered herself in it, trying to protect herself with her own madness, all becoming more lost in the process.

She deserved Mercy.

Once again, Sans shook his head.

"No. Kid. You're wrong. If we let her go…" He left his words hanging there, before gently pushing Frisk out of the way. "It's time." Sans moved forward.

Frisk didn't know what to do. Chara didn't deserve death, not for what she had been through. And Sans…he didn't need any more violence in his life. Sans raised his arm, and with a dash, Frisk dove in front of him, cradling what solid form Chara had in her arms.

"What the hell are ya doin', kid!?" Sans shouted at her, probably more scared that he was about to impale the human than anything.

Frisk looked back at him and then back at Chara.

_"Frisk…I'm so sorry…don't hurt me…"_

Frisk told her it was okay. She was forgiven and everything would be okay.

_"No. no it won't. I've done terrible things, Frisk. I've hurt so many people. I deserve to die, but I don't want to go."_

Chara sobbed into Frisks' shirt, her body beginning to solidify into that of a human girl, the red, cracked soul thumping along in the center. Frisk pat her head, still holding onto her. She told Chara that yes, she did horrible things, but it was because she was angry and scared. And people make mistakes when they don't know what to do—like her parents, like the people at the mental institute, like the humans who attacked and hurt Asriel. There was no going back with her mistakes, either, she had to face them head on.

_"You…you could reset…you could go back and make all this never happen…"_

Frisk shook her head. No, she couldn't. After all this time, she still didn't want to take away her family's happy ending—nor could she take away any of the other monster's futures. It wouldn't be fair to them, or anyone. Chara nodded gravely, in understanding.

They stayed like that in silence, the only sounds to be heard were Chara's sniffles.

_"Frisk…I really am sorry. I wish I could take it all back."_

Frisk told her she understood. She also wished Chara could take everything back. But it wasn't going to happen. There was nothing to do now but move on and try to live better. The cracks on Chara's soul grew , but the sludge that made up her body began to fade.

_"But, I'm dead. There is no 'living on' for me. There is nothing for me. Still…"_

Frisk broke off the embrace and stared at Chara. What was happening? Her soul was starting to break apart, the pieces that were coming off were disintegrating as they did. Noting the look of horror on Frisk's face, Chara smiled at her, her appearance no longer grotesque, but as the rosey-cheeked human girl she once was long ago.

_"My anger and sins were the only thing holding my soul together. Because of you, your mercy, I don't have them to keep me here."_

Frisk interjected that they could share a body again; Frisk's soul could house them both. And things could be different! They could share Frisk's family, Chara could have her mother back again. From behind her, Sans made a noise of objection, but she ignored him, trying to convince Chara not to let herself die.

 _"Thnak you. Frisk you've showed me far more kindness than I deserve. I really…don't want to die…"_ Tears streamed down her face, falling down onto the ground below. _"But I think it's for the best."_

Frisk grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, but she was already disappearing, her soul down to just a few small fragments.

_"I'm…going to go see Asriel now. Frisk?"_

Her soul was just two small fragments, barely hanging together. Frisk shouted for Chara to possess her body before she disappeared completely; she could still be saved.

_"Do me a favor…take care of my mom? I mean, Toriel, ok?"_

It was too late to stop Chara now, her body was twinkling in and out of existence, but Frisk nodded, tears starting to form. Chara smiled, and mouth the words to something, but Frisk couldn't hear her.

She was already gone.

There was silence as the two, skeleton and human, took in the quiet. Frisk slumped down, sitting on her legs, not sure what to do next, but feeling a supreme sense of regret.

The crunch of gravel was heard behind her as Sans made his way next to her, sitting down with a sigh.

"It's ok, kiddo. It's ok." His voice was soft, but low.

Frisk didn't turn to look at him, but sighed, still letting Chara's passing sink in. She could have been saved… Why didn't she just share a body? She wanted to repent, wouldn't that have been a good start?

"Kid. She was beyond saving. She was. But ya did what you could. I'm real proud of ya for that." Sans tenderly placed a skeletal hand on Frisk's head. She turned to look up at him, glad for some form of affection after having only abuse and loneliness for so long. But locking eyes to eye-sockets, she paled.

She could still remember the crunch of bones, the sight of her own blood spilling out of her body, Sans' merciless expression, ready to kill her, and his voice—oh his voice—steeped in an undying rage as he screamed at her.

Frisk lurched away from his hand, shaking slightly. She got up, ignoring Sans' protests and worried questions, suddenly wanting to put as much space as possible between them.

Even after all this, she still couldn't look at him without remembering the horrible things they both went through. Sans got up, trying to soothe her.

"It's ok, kiddo. I'm not going to hurt ya."

But Frisk shook her head, only able to see his gleaming cyan eye, staring into her own vengefully. He was still mad, and he had every right to be.

Even with Chara gone, no longer whispering terrible things into her ear, twisting Frisk's mind into something it wasn't, convincing her she was something she wasn't, all she could feel was fear when she looked to the skeleton.

"What do ya see when ya look at me?" He demanded softly, taking a step towards her. "Please. Frisk, just talk to me."

The step closer to her made Frisk nearly jump out of her skin. She was terrified, the feeling of being impaled with Sans' bones suddenly more vivid than it ever was.

"Kiddo, what do you see?" He repeated, more worried. "It's ok."

Frisk couldn't take much more, the oppressive memories bearing down on her enough to make her puke. Glancing behind her quickly, she took a few experimental steps back, and then dashed away into a full sprint. Terrified, she heard the familiar sound of the skeletons' teleportation as he fizzled out of reality.

"Kid!" Sans appeared right in front of her, taking her by the shoulders. "You can't do this again, ok? Please, stop running from me."

She refused to look him in the eye-socket and looked everywhere but at him, trying to find an escape route as she shook in fear. He seemed to notice this, and Frisk caught perhaps a look of…hurt? From her peripheral before it warped back into raging hatred. She shuddered and tried to hold back a cry.

"Don't run away. It's ok. I won't hurt ya." His voice was so tender, but his image was so ghastly. Sans let go, maybe knowing that his touch scared her almost as bad as his presence. "Kid. Please. I don't want you to run anymore. I—I don't think I could take it if you left me—us—again." His voice broke, and upon hearing the break, Frisk looked up reflexively, never having known Sans to be anything other than angry, happy or relaxed at that point. Sure enough, tears were falling down his skull, and for a moment, the angry façade her mind kept remembering was replaced with Sans' usual face.

He was tired, dark circles under his eye-sockets, his jacket was unusually worn and pale, even his bones looked paler than usual, not his normal ivory-toned hue. He was a mess. In the back of her mind she recognized that it might have been her fault. Sans may have gotten that way because he had been so worried about her, maybe he had even spent most of his waking hours just trying to find her that he never took care of himself the entire time.

She asked him if he was ok.

"Heh. Kiddo, **I** should be the one asking ya that." He gave a small dark chuckle. "But, nah. Kid. I'm not. I'm far from ok."

In a small voice, Frisk asked if it was her fault.

"…not entirely." Sans breathed, and the guilt his words imparted stung. "But I really worried myself over you. We all did. …Worried us right to the _bone._ Heh. Sorry kid, too soon, huh?" Frisk must have made a face, so he apologized, his words full of regret. He tried again, softer, more soothing this time. "She's gone, ya know. You don't have to be afraid anymore."

Frisk reflexively let her head shake, but remained silent. She couldn't tell him why he terrified her so.

"Why won't you look at me?" She saw Sans move, maybe to cup her chin with his hand, but he stopped as she winced. "Are…ya trying to run…from me? Is it me…you're afraid of?"

Her silence was telling. Frisk stared down at her feet, noticing how much more worn they looked than when she first left. Sans shifted in front of her; she supposed the revelation was a little disconcerting. She suddenly felt horrible.

But she spoke up, slowly and softly, that she _was_ afraid of him. He had done terrible things to her—she remembered them all, especially how they felt. But she also was filled with a vast and deep regret of all the things she had done—for she remembered them all now, every detail, every scene now replayed in her head. Everytime she looked at him, she would remember her sins, and it hurt. The whole situation could have been avoided; she regret not telling Sans, she regret not telling her family, she regret letting herself be possessed in the first place. With hesitance and uncertainty, she confided that her greatest worry was that her family would disown her after everything, that they would remember, or that Sans would tell them and they would hate her for everything. Under her breath she added that it would be something that she deserved.

She was afraid of the Sans from the past timeline, the one who had witnessed her do terrible things to his friends and brother, of course he would be mad and hate her. But this Sans…the one in front of her, he didn't do anything wrong. He loved her like…a parent would. He supported her, maybe even more than her own mother did. And Frisk had done nothing in the current timeline to make him hate her.

Except for when Chara tried to take over her. That would make anyone question her, and maybe even hate her.

"Kid." Sans sudden voice, shaking and broken spoke up. "None of us could ever hate ya."

She looked up, his voice shocking her. Tears streamed from his hollow eye-sockets and he tenderly took her small hand with his rough phalanges as he kneeled in front of her. She didn't fight him, but looked back down at her feet and the tips of his patella, which peeked out from the edge of his black shorts.

She was quiet and fought back a fresh round of tears, thinking to herself that she had never actually seen Sans cry before. She felt even worse, if it was possible. Her voice nearly broke, but she told him that she didn't deserve her family, and especially not him. Not after what she did to them and put them through.

"Frisk, if that's true, then everything you said to that creat—Chara—was a lie."

She looked up at him, shocked. He was right.

"And what did you say to her? 'Everyone makes mistakes' and 'just move on and try to live better?' Words to live by, kiddo." He smiled at her, and continued, voice still shaking. "It's ok. You're safe now. I won't hurt you. I…know I did some really messed up stuff to you. I can't take it back—we both remember it, and probably will 'til the rest of our lives, but…please don't be afraid of me. Please don't run away again...please…" He chuckled darkly. "Hell, kid. _I_ should be the one asking you not to hate me."

Frisk didn't know what to do. Of course she could forgive Sans and of course she could never hate him. She knew he was justified in what he did. But forgetting it…that was different. The pain was all too real and easily remembered. She didn't want to be afraid of him. He took care of her; he loved her like a parent would. She glanced up at him. She could barely see traces of the rage-fueled skeleton that tormented her so in the previous timeline; now all she could see was Sans, her guardian, looking pitifully at her, crying silently while awaiting a response. Swallowing hard, Frisk untangled her hand from his, ignoring a sad protest from Sans, before leaping into him, her small fragile arms locking around his neck as she cried into him, saying that she could never hate him and that he had been forgiven long ago.

Sans said nothing, perhaps shocked from the sudden spurt of affection. Frisk could feel his boney arms encircle her delicately at first, then with more strength.

"Kid…I—" He didn't finish, too worked up and emotional.

Frisk told him she was sorry for running away, sorry for everything that she did to him, their family, the monsters in the underground; told him she's sorry for not being stronger, for trying to kill him again. She cired out apologies until they no longer make sense. After a while, she felt herself lifted into the air, but still resting against Sans' ribcage, the skeleton cradling her close.

"Kid. I could never hate ya. You're the best damn human in this world. One of the best things that's happened to me…" His voice was so soft, Frisk had to strain to hear him. "I know it's too late…but I wish ya had told me. Y'know, kid. This whole time. I wanted to help you. I was too damn silent and lazy. I thought…I thought maybe it would work itself out, y'know?" His voice caught, hitching on something.

Frisk hugged harder, her forehead pressed into the vertebrae of his neck as she listened to him. She was still scared. Feeling his boney hands on her reminded her of being impaled by his bone attacks, but she persisted, not wanting to be afraid. He pulled away, his forehead resting on hers for a beat, and then he looked into her eyes. She refused to turn away, knowing that she needed to meet him head on.

"I don't blame you for any of this, kiddo. None of us do. We want you home. We want you safe. We want you happy."

Frisk nodded as Sans puts her down. Quickly he rubbed the tears from his eyes before wiping away Frisk's with his sleeve.

"Geez, kid. Can't believe how beat up you look. It's like you were homeless for several days or something." He tried to make a joke, and Frisk offered a small sad smile. "I think we should go home now. Everyone's worried. They, uh, don't know I've found you yet though." He gave her a sheepish look and she returned it, rubbing the back of her head.

She apologized again.

"Ya don't need to keep apologizing, kiddo. It's gonna be ok." Gingerly, he rubbed the top of her head, mussing her already messy head.

Frisk playfully slapped his arm away and he grinned.

She felt so much better now and the relief of everything came crashing down. Her adrenaline no longer continually pumping, and no oppressive force in her head, she felt heavy, yet light at the same time.

"Well, ready to go home?" Sans asked, his tone more laid back and chipper, like his usual self, though still guarded; his expression looked similar to how she imagined hers looked: tired.

Frisk stopped in her tracks, about to affirm that she was ready. But in actuality, she wasn't. She turned to him and asked for some time alone with him. She wanted to spend enough time with him until she was no longer scared of him, or twitching in fear when he turned to look at her. She wanted to stop remembering the Sans that tried to kill her, only remembering Sans her guardian, the cool, punny skeleton; she wanted him to only remember the pacifist Frisk, the one who would never hurt anyone.

He quickly turned away, and Frisk thought maybe he was mad at her request, until she noted the light blue tinge on his cheekbones, and nearly let out a laugh when she realized he was being bashful.

"Sure, kid. We, uh, can do that." He turned back to look at her, his blush nearly gone as he recollected himself. "Well, where do you want to go? What do you want to do?"

Frisk could no longer hold back, and let out a yawn, her eyes drooping from her lack of sleep over the course of not only her running away, but from before. Sans grinned, and then yawned himself.

"That, uh, actually sounds good to me." He offered his hand to her. "C'mon kid. I know a shortcut."

Sans had picked out not necessarily the nicest-looking motel, but it wasn't dirty or dingy like Frisk assumed most of them were. By the time they had gotten a room, Frisk was falling asleep outside, leaning up against the wall as Sans took care of getting the key.

Her vision was getting blurry and she struggled to stay awake, the want and need for sleep lulling her into nearly falling over. She caught herself and gently rubbed her eyes, trying to figh off sleep until she could get into a bed. Sans finally came out of the office, whistling through his teeth, somehow, and waved her over. She didn't have the strength to move, and she nearly stumbled into the ground, face-first when she tried to take a step. As if on cue, Sans appeared next to her.

"C'mon kiddo. We're almost there." He reassured her, helping her to her feet. Frisk sleepily grabbed a hold of his hoodie sleeve and he led her through the motel parking lot over to their room. As soon as Sans opened the door, Frisk was already on the bed, nearly asleep, a quick goodnight to him before she fell right to sleep.

It was long.

It was peaceful.

No one was there to mentally assault her.

For the first time in a long while, her sleep was dreamless.

* * *

Sans breathed a heavy sigh when he saw the kid collapse. She was tired, dead tired—he shuddered at his own joke, remembering Chara. He looked around, looking at the two twin-sized beds and ths simple decorations that adorned the place: a dark, wooden desk in the corner, a small TV sitting quietly on a stand, the remote placed haphazardly on top, a cabinet with three drawers against the far wall, and a door to the bathroom. Sure, the place wasn't classy, it wasn't as if Sans had a lot of money on him to get them something nice, besides, he reasoned to himself, they were just using it to sleep in.

He was tired, so tired.

All that time spent running around, looking for his kid wore him out. When he finally found her he had been so happy. But then Chara.

Chara.

He could have spat at her name. He was still angry, angry that the little urchin had made Frisk suffer so, but he was relieved she was gone. Granted, Sans did admit that he was disappointed he didn't get to scold the little freak for everything (or get any better hits in), that she just _poof'd_ without any repercussions for her actions. That wasn't fair to him, Frisk, or their family. But he relented. The ordeal was over.

Now he just had to care for Frisk.

He looked over at her sleeping form.

"Man, kid. Ya really conked out, huh?" Very carefully he eased the covers back and placed her into them, giving her head one final pat before he made his way to the other bed. He sat down, his bones creaking tiredly as he sighed heavily, more cathartic than for any actual breath he was holding.

It had hurt.

It had hurt deeply when she said that she was afraid of him. She had looked at him with an expression of fear and loathing. A part of him ached and nearly broke. That was the kind of stuff that he couldn't take—hell, it made him cry. But the kiddo listened to him, she told him that she forgave him, actually _wanted to spend some time with him_ so that she could face him normally. He felt fresh tears well up, overcome with emotion and grief.

She had said she felt like she didn't deserve her family.

"Heh, kid." His laugh was dark, his eye-sockets empty. "It's me that doesn't deserve you."

Sans still didn't know the hell she went through, what she saw, what Chara made her do. It sent shivers down his spine. He felt for her and wished he could do more for his kid. In the morning, he decided, they would talk about everything.

She had said she was afraid of them hating her.

"Ironic." Sans muttered out, everything the kid had said being a reflection of himself. They were more alike than either thought-both worried about the same things.

Again his eyes, the pinpricks of light, latched onto Frisk as she soundlessly snored. It wasn't as if he could so easily forget her twisted expression as she rushed forward, using all of her strength to try and kill him as savagely as possible. Even though he knew it was Chara, it was still a memory he couldn't forget. But he wanted to, for Frisk's sake and his. Neither of them needed to remember the past at this point. He rubbed the back of his vertebrae; his neck was stiff, he ached all over. He hadn't slept in days and suddenly the bed seemed even more inviting than it already was, as if it were possible.

He laid down, finally letting himself relax a little bit. In the back of his hazy, soon-to-be-asleep mind, he belatedly realized he had never called Toriel and the others to let them know Frisk was ok. He yawned, musing to himself that he was a lazy bag of bones, and that he would do it when he woke up.

Sans awoke the next morning, amazed that he actually got a decent night's sleep for once. Maybe it was all the relief that Frisk was safe, alive, and not acting insane. Whatever it was, Sans was grateful for it as he stretched his bones and cracked his joints. Looking over at the tiny human snuggled under the covers, he couldn't help but let himself grin that she was still asleep. He peered over at the clock on the night table; it was only 9. Sans wanted to go back to sleep; it was far too early for him, but he got off the bed, remembering that he had to call Toriel and everyone to let them know Frisk was ok, and that they were going to take their time coming home.

He stood up and dug for the small cell phone in his pocket, pulling it out and grimacing; he had a ton of missed calls. He sighed, feeling like an ass for worrying everyone more than necessary and dialed Toriel's phone.

It barely rang before he heard Toriel's panicked voice through the receiver.

"Sans?! Thank goodness, I've been trying to get a hold of you! Why didn't you respond to any of my texts?"

"Uh," Sans began, realizing he had put his phone on mute when he found Frisk in the park. "I wasn't _text-_ pecting it to be on mute, but it, uh, was." He could have punched himself. That was the worst excuse he had ever made—not that he had a better one.

"SANS!" His brother's voce rang out loudly, even through the phone.

"Sans, this isn't the time for jokes! Did you…did you find her?" Toriel's voice was haggard and worn; she probably hadn't slept. None of the family most likely hadn't gotten any sleep.

"I've got good news. Kid's with me."

"How is she?!"

"WHAT!? Let the Great Papyrus speak to the human-Frisk!"

"I-is she o-ok?!"

"Sans, put the punk on!"

Sans was prepared for the onslaught of banter. He sighed silently.

"I've got her. She's, well, uh, I'd like to say she's fine, but I'd _Frisk_ telling you a lie."

The other side exploded with rage, his puns were not going over well, but Sans shrugged. He was only trying to ease the tension, after all, the kiddo was safe and sound, he could throw a joke or two around. But he relented, trying to get serious for the next bit.

"Kid's asleep right now, otherwise I'd put her on—trust me, she needs it. I wish I could say she's 100%, but she's got some, uh, issues? Yeah, I'll call it that. That we need to work out. We'll be home in a few days. I think we both need to unwind and talk, alone."

"Sans…Do you really think that's a good idea?" Toriel asked after a bit, not accusingly, but out of genuine worry for both human and skeleton.

"I think it'll be good for us. When she regained her memories, she, uh, remembered some unsettling things from her past."

There was a sigh from the other end of the line before Toriel spoke back up.

"Alright Sans. But please be home by tomorrow. Not a day later."

Sans was fairly surprised by the leniency of the goat-mother, but grinned anyway.

"Will do, Tor. Now tell _the rest_ to get some sleep. They've all earned it. Don't want them getting dep- _rest_ from being too tired."

He heard a muffled snicker from the other side and Papyrus' groan to desist. Sans smirked to himself before bidding everyone a goodbye and hanging up.

With nothing left to do but wait for his kid to wake up, he turned on the TV to some kind of cartoon and watched it for a while. Eventually he got bored and shut it off, laying back down in bed. His head snapped back over to Frisk when she stirred softly in her bed. Sans let her sleep—the poor kid needed it.

He faltered slightly, realizing it might have been a few days until she had gotten a decent meal. Making up his mind to hit up a fast food restaurant that he noticed they passed a few blocks when they were walking to the motel, he got up and quietly left, his magic swirling around him as he teleported away.

He returned not long later to find Frisk curled up in her covers, shaking a bit.

"Hey kid, I thought you might be hungry, so I got some—Frisk?" He announced his return but stopped, noticing she was crying. He set the food down and quickly went to her side. "Kiddo? What's wrong?"

Frisk threw off the covers and fell into him, shaking and clinging to him. Sans was unsure of what to do. He was only gone for a few minutes, wasn't he?

The human's voice was small and soft, breaking only slightly as she told him she was sorry for crying. She continued, saying it was stupid, but she thought he wasn't going to come back. Sans pulled her closer with one arm, returning the hug, and with the other pat her on the head gently.

"Don't worry, Frisk. I'm right here. I'm not the kinda guy to just leave like that." He sighed as Frisk collected herself, rubbing away tears and trying to sniffle as quietly as she could. "Guess I shoulda left a note, huh? I thought ya would have been hungry."

As if on cue, Sans could distinctively hear the rumblings of the small human's stomach, to which she pulled away, blushing slightly. Chuckling, Sans handed her the food he had collected. Without much care, Frisk tore into it, hungrily devouring any and all food she was handed. Sans moved to go sit on his bed, content to possibly have a quick nap while his kid ate.

She stopped suddenly and looked to Sans, offering him some food. She wondered if he was hungry as well.

"Nah, kid, that stuff goes _right through me_." Sans said with a wink. Frisk made a face like she had heard that joke many times before, and Sans merely shrugged in response. "I don't have the _guts_ to come up with new material, kid." Frisk rolled her eyes at that one and continued to chow down into her food.

After a while of silence Frisk looked over to Sans and asked him if she could turn on the TV.

"Heh. Sure kid, knock yourself out." He passed her the remote and she turned on the television, flipping through channels while munching on the last bit of food.

Stretching out, Sans geared himself down to take a nap, the soft sounds emanating from the set lulling him to sleep as he shut his eye-sockets. He heard Frisk say something and he cracked an eye-socket open to look over at her. She was sitting up, looking everywhere but at him, maybe a look of guilt on her face?

"What's up, kiddo?"

Frisk look incredibly sheepish, but asked if she could sit next to him. Sans cocked his head, wondering if he heard her right.

"Uh, sure, kid." He scooted over a bit as Frisk got up and sat next to him. "Comfy?" He asked, grinning down at her.

Frisk nodded slowly, eyes fixated on the screen.

There was more silence; save for the tones coming from whatever cartoon Frisk had turned to.

"Still afraid of me?" Sans asked suddenly, his voice was soft and probing, more so than he wanted it to be..

She smiled and told him only a bit. It was mostly just reimagining all the attacks. She frowned and looked back at him, telling him how much she wished she could forget.

"Me too, kid." Sans agreed. Frisk looked up at him before leaning against Sans' side, head resting on his shoulder. Frisk asked him how much he remembered, and how much of her he knew about.

"I remember our fight, mostly. It's, uh, too memorable to forget." His voice grew a little darker, and Frisk tensed up, seeming like she wanted to pull away. "But, kid. I know none of it was your fault. We just…need to let it all go." Sans rested a boney hand on her head. "As far as how much of your past I remember, not much. Even when ya had your memory, ya never told me much about yourself. Don't sweat it too much, kid. Even before the last…uh…reset, ya were a good kid." He added after he saw the look of uncertainty on Frisk's face. She quirked an eyebrow up at him in disbelief and Sans gave her a pat on the top of her head reassuringly. "Really, kid, at that point, you were _headed_ down the right path." He chuckled at his own joke as Frisk rolled her eye but let out a small snort anyway.

He heard Frisk mumble that she was glad he forgave her, but she wondered if she could forgive herself for everything.

"Kid. It's all in the past. At this point, we both really need to let go. Forgive yourself. After all, you forgive me, right?" He asked, hopefully.

Frisk turned to him and nodded fiercely. She pointed at his nasal cavity and insisted that he forgive himself too. Sans chuckled and nodded.

"Of course, kiddo."

Frisk leaned back onto his shoulder and snuggled closer.

"Hey…kid." Sans began slowly. "You…the whole time, had the power to time travel—er, reset, didn't ya?"

Frisk looked up at him with wide eyes and then quickly looked away. She nodded; she still had it even. Chara had wanted to use it to reset and obtain the other six human souls.

"You…won't use it, will you?"

Frisk looked back at him and smiled, patting his hand. No, she wouldn't use it. Never again.

This would be their happy ending.

And no one, not even her, would take it away.

Sans, relieved, felt tears fall down his face.

"Heh. For cryin' out loud, Frisk. Ya really know how to _tear_ a guy apart."

Frisk stared up at him for a beat before hugging him softly.

"Thanks kid. Thanks…"

* * *

A few hours later the two were ready to leave the motel. After convincing Frisk to take a shower (not that it took much convincing in the first place), they headed out to the nearest bus stop.

There they waited for the next bus alone together.

Sans sat on the bench nearby and pat the seat next to him. Frisk obliged and sat down, kicking her legs out, back and forth in the air idly.

"Kid. What exactly happened to you? Y'know, before I found you." Sans asked gently.

Frisk turned to look at him, a frown on her face. Then, she turned away, a look of painful remembrance on her face.

"I won't force ya to talk, kiddo, but I really want you to be able to talk to me."

Quietly, Frisk murmured that she really wanted to tell him what happened, but it was still too soon; she wished to have some time to recover from it all.

"That bad, huh?" Sans felt crestfallen. So terrible things had really happened to her while she was gone? Inwardly he cursed his inability to find her sooner.

But she smiled sadly and stated that she knew this all started since she didn't speak up the first time; she promised him that when they reunited with the family, she would tell him everything. Asking if that was a good enough excuse for now, she stretched her limbs out, popping several joints.

Sans grinned back at her.

"It's a promise."

The bus pulled up with a loud diesel-engine noise and the skeleton and human got on, picking out a seat in the back to sit together.

Eventually Frisk fell asleep, leaning up next to him.

Sans could feel himself getting sleepy as well, telling himself it would be several hours until they reached their city, so he might as well follow his kid's lead and get some more sleep while he could.

He dozed off, feeling everything right with the world for once.

* * *

"Ya feeling ok, Frisk?" Sans called to the little human as she walked with some trepidation from the bus stop.

She looked up at him nervously. What if everyone was mad at her?

"Well, kid, to be fair, you _did_ run away. I think they're gonna be more mad that you left without saying anything and could have gotten seriously hurt than the fact that you bailed. Look. I'm right here. We'll take it one step at a time, ok?"

But what if they hated her for what she did? What if they remembered what she did?

"They don't." He stated, knowing what he had to tell her next. "But I told them, so they know—but they know it wasn't you. They know it wasn't your fault. I explained it to them, and so everyone understands." He added quickly as Frisk came to a halt, face pale with shock.

She asked him if that was a good idea. Now they would really hate her.

"C'mon kid. They don't. This is your family we're talking about. Toriel loves ya. I don't think Pap can hate anything, even if he tries. Alphys and Undyne understand, too. It'll be ok."

He grinned at her and her face softened a little.

"Promise."

She looked up to him and smiled. She would trust him.

Before Frisk and Sans had even walked up the drive to the house, Papyrus was already running to meet them.

"HUMAN-FRISK!" His loud booming voice called out in exuberance.

Frisk laughed and broke out into a run, jumping into Papyrus' open arms with a giggle. Sans watched on, his grin unable to get any wider.

"Oh, Human-Frisk! I was so worried about you! How are you? What did you eat? You must be half-starved for food cooked by The Great Papyrus!"

Undyne was next to join, ripping Frisk from Papyrus and noogie-ing the human as she held her tightly.

"Hey Punk! Think you can run away from Undyne!? Think Again!" She stopped suddenly and brought Frisk into a great bear hug. "Geez, punk. I really missed you." Tears threatened to fall from her eye. "You're such a brat…making me cry like this. Geez."

"F-frisk! We w-were so worried about you!" Alphys was next to run into Frisk, her face oozing from her blubbering. "I-I'm so glad Sans found you!"

"Frisk!" Toriel came last, tears streaming down her face. "My child. I'm so happy to see you. I thought you'd left us forever!"

Frisk ran to her, nearly tackling her mother, starting to cry too. She apologized for running away and everything that she had done. She was so, so sorry.

"It's ok. It's ok." Toriel tried to soothe, her own voice too broken to sound so. "I'm so glad you are here."

Frisk peeked over her shoulder at Sans, who gave her a wink.

"Human-Frisk!" Papyrus started, trying not to cry along with the rest. "You must tell us about your adventures! What did you see? What did you do? Where did you go?"

The others leaned in, interested to hear what she had to say.

She looked to Sans for support; he nodded slowly, encouraging her to talk.

Frisk nodded, letting go of her mother.

It was time to talk to her family

This time she was no longer afraid; eyes full of determination, she began.

Sans no longer had that nagging feeling.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

_"Hey Chara."_

_Bright red eyes opened up to a large infinite white room. Looking around, the human got up. At her feet were a gathering of buttercups, their delicate yellow petals soft to the touch._

_"Who's there?" she called out with uncertainty._

_"Me, silly."_

_She turned around and let out a gasp._

_"Asriel."_

_The goat-child smiled, beaming at her. He stood on a path of more buttercups that led off to somewhere unseen in the distance, obscured by a bright light._

_"I told you we'd meet again." He held out a paw to her. "C'mon. It's time to go."_

_Hesitation enveloped the small child._

_"'Go?'"_

_"Yup. We're no longer needed in this world."_

_The human thought about it for a moment._

_"You…really did wait for me…"_

_"Told ya so."_

_He smiled._

_"Come on, Chara. Let's go."_

_She returned the smile and took his paw._

_"Ok."_

_Paw in hand, they walked into the light._

* * *

 

**IT'S DONE! I DID IT! The first fanfic that I've finally completed!**

**I have a few other things planned, so if you liked this writing style, stay tuned for more stuff.**

**In any case, thank you all so much for reading!**

**Author's Note:**

> I promise my writing style gets better. at least, I hope it does.


End file.
